Kingdom Hearts: Outcasts
by nasdreks
Summary: When the Heart of All Worlds is threatened once again, Sora will be forced to ally himself with a Heartless, a Nobody and a mysterious girl to stop it. *Old story, written before Birth by Sleep*
1. Prologue

Kingdom Hearts: The Outcasts

Author's Note: I wrote this fiction many, many years ago. Therefore be aware of minor plotholes, inconsistencies, OOCness and things like that. Also, I wrote this before Birth by Sleep came out.

Prologue

_Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of All Worlds. So many people have tried to use the Heart for evil because in the Heart there is so much darkness, but the Keyblade Master said Kingdom Hearts is Light. I wish so much for him to be right…_

All worlds in the universe are connected, even if the residents are always kept separate, they all share one sky and one heart. Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all worlds, but when someone tries to use Kingdom Hearts for evil it turns to darkness and releases the Heartless, those without hearts who seek out to steal the hearts of others. It is during this time that the worlds connect even more than ever and residents can travel from world to world. This is so the Keyblade Master, the one with the strongest heart of all, can reseal the world and seal Kingdom Hearts, bringing it back to normal, severing the literal ties between the worlds but strengthening their inner ones. It is never easy for him to seal Kingdom Hearts, for each time the Keyblade Master is summoned, he always suffers some great tragedy. Yet inevitably some force once again tries to use Kingdom Hearts.

This time was no exception.

The strongest bond between Kingdom Hearts and all worlds is located in Hollow Bastion, the kingdom once ruled by Ansem, once known as Ansem the Wise. He had accidentally discovered Kingdom Hearts by stepping through the Keyhole in his world, and let the Heartless out. He became obsessed with the Heartless and lost himself to the darkness. He was defeated by the Keyblade Master and over the years Hollow Bastion returned to normal, but the Keyhole and its fallibility remained. And this was well known to the figure now standing in front of it. The figure smiled to itself as it looked at the keyhole located in a lab in Hollow Bastion's once mighty castle, long since abandoned and overgrown since the last threat to the Heart of All Worlds. The hooded figure stepped through and found itself shrouded in darkness, a darkness wanting desperately to take control of the figure's heart.

That was unnecessary, darkness had long taken over this being's heart, the living darkness around felt that and bowed to the figure's power. With no sound except the tapping of the figure's heels, it came closer and closer to a set of doors engraved with a strange symbol. In a hollow unnatural voice the hooded figure raised its arm and spoke, "O Kingdom Hearts, Source of All Darkness, Open to Me and Give me Your Power! The Power of Darkness!"

Silently the two great doors swung slowly open and the figure stepped inside and looked around. The darkness inside started to take shapes and forms of strange and twisted looking creatures. The figure let out a sound of disgust, it had hoped that by entering it would be able to absorb the Heart's power, but besides the creatures, nothing had changed. The figure took a few more steps forward, hoping to find something of use beyond the next shadow. Nothing!

The figure snarled and turned to leave when it noticed a shift in the shadows. At first the being figured it was only one of the Heartless, and thought nothing of it, but then

began to observe, that unlike the Heartless, this shadow had recoiled away from the figure.

"There you are," the being said cruelly, "No one ever said that's what you'd look like,"

The other figure in shadow took another step back, clearly fearing this caped being more than any of the Heartless it shared its residence with. Without warning, the caped figure charged the shadowed being. The shadowed being dashed out of the other person's way and ran desperately for the door out of Kingdom Hearts.

"You may get away, but the Heartless obey ME now!" the caped being shouted and motioned for the heartstealing beings to chase the figure, "Run all you like but I will eventually get you,"


	2. The Man With No Heart

Chapter One The Man with No Heart

The Magnificent Garden was the most beautiful place in all of Hollow Bastion. It was once the favorite place of Ansem and even after Hollow Bastion's initial destruction and abandonment, the garden never lost its beauty. Birds chirped, fish swam in the small ponds and squirrels frolicked playfully through the bushes and trees. In the middle of the serenity sat a tall man emotionlessly watching the happy wildlife around him. He sat on the ground near a broken stone bench on his haunches. His long jet-black hair was kept out of his blood red eyes with a red headband that matched the cape he constantly wore. Under his cape he wore all black to the tips of his fingers, except for his left arm, which in place of a hand was a golden claw. Emotionlessly he continued to stare at the birds and squirrels. He saw no happiness in their play; he felt no happiness in his heart. This man was Vincent Valentine.

And he was a Heartless.

Vincent continued to watch the animals until the sun began setting. As the little creatures disappeared to hide from the growing darkness, the man continued to stare indifferently into the space he had been looking at for hours. There was no point in moving, no point in staying. Eventually, Vincent needed a change and decided to get up and look around. There was of course nothing new to look at; he had not left the garden in months.

His life had grown as empty as his heart. Suddenly he passed by something he hadn't seen in years: a picture of 'Ansem the Wise' the man who had destroyed his life. Many years ago, almost seventeen now, he had gone to castle of Hollow Bastion as a mercenary to do work with his companions when Ansem asked him to help him with his research. However the research was _him_, and through a horrifying experiment his heart was removed. But unlike other Heartless, he didn't loose his mind and his memories, just his emotions. There was still one emotion left, the only thing still in his life: anger, which was all too well displayed as he destroyed the image of the ruler with a blast of the shotgun he kept on his back. As the smoke wafted into the night sky, the anger that had consumed him slowly died down.

Once again he was left with nothing. Glancing up he hoped the stars would bring him some kind of comfort, as usual they didn't. Deciding that staying on the ground all night wouldn't do him any better than leaving, he finally got up and walked to the place he usually stayed, one of the remaining stone gazebos that once littered the garden. He passed by broken statues and overgrown garden ornaments indifferently until he felt a strange feeling in his gut, a feeling he hadn't had in a very long time. There were Heartless around.

The only thing Vincent hated more than Ansem were other Heartless and in a rage Vincent tore through the garden looking for the source of evil that was tormenting him. A swarm of black Heartless shaped like globes with giant mouths were swarming around something. Caring little about what had garnered their interest, Vincent pulled the shotgun off his back in with an animal-like snarl systematically blasted away the evil creatures. Only when the final Heartless twitched and disappeared with a 'poof' did Vincent notice the Heartless had attacked something. Mildly curious, Vincent cautiously got closer, not yet putting his weapon away.

On the ground was a strange looking naked teenage girl. Her skin was extremely pale with a bluish tint, her hair was extremely long and on half of her head her hair was pitch black, not reflecting a shard of light, on the other side of her head her hair was bright white and seemed to be glowing. In the middle of her chest was a dark violet mark in the shape of a keyhole. She was unconscious. Vincent bent down to check if she was okay but he drew back his hand when he touched her. Her body was icy cold but she appeared to be breathing. He pulled off his cape and wrapped it around the girl; he picked her up and started walking out of the garden as quickly as possible.

As he carried her he noticed that strange cold sensation she emitted seemed to radiate through his cape, but he paid no attention to it. Instead he focused on finding help for her and after a few moments he entered the small charming village at the foot of the abandoned palace. It had been months since he last came here and had hoped that the location of what he was looking for had remained the same. His eyes flashed to a small florist shop. There were no lights inside but he still went up to it and with his metal clawed hand started banging on the door. At first there was no reaction, but he didn't lessen the intensity of his rapping. Finally some shifting could be heard inside and a light came on. The door opened and on the other side was an irritated young man in his early twenties with blonde hair rubbing the sleep out of his blue eyes, and at the moment he was only wearing pants.

"Whadayawant?" he said groggily. The other man said nothing. The blonde blinked and finally recognized the other figure, "Vincent?"

"Cloud, what's going on?" said a sweet female voice. From the back of the shop a girl with light brown hair wearing a fuzzy pink robe stepped out.

"Aeris, it's Vincent!" Cloud stepped out of the way and Vincent stepped inside.

"Vincent? What are _you_ doing here?" Aeris said with a great degree of shock to be seeing her friend.

"It's been a very long time since we've seen you," Cloud said cheerfully. Vincent didn't return the same pleasantries.

"There were some Heartless, they attacked this girl. She doesn't seem to be in very good shape," Vincent replied bluntly.

"What?" Cloud gasped, "Heartless?"

Aeris cleared one of the tables she used for cutting flowers and indicated to Vincent to set the girl down. Gently the tall man set the frail looking girl and Aeris went to checking her, "She doesn't seem to be hurt, just unconscious,"

"Is her body being that cold normal?" Vincent asked.

"Cold? She seems a little cool, but it seems her body temperature is normal," Aeris replied.

Vincent touched the girl's hand, it felt that same extremely icy temperature he had felt earlier, "You sure? She feels like death,"

"I'm sure Vincent, I've been a healer since I was a little girl," Aeris gave him an odd look.

"What about the Heartless, Vincent?" Cloud insisted urgently.

"Heartless? What Heartless?" A new voice piped. Yuffie, one of Cloud and Aeris's neighbors and dear friends had come into the shop. Her short hair was disheveled and she was wearing blue pajamas covered with kittens, "Oh hey Vinny, what are you doing here?"

Another grim voice added to the discussion, "What is everybody doing? It's the middle of the night,"

"Leon, it's Vinny, and he saw Heartless!" Yuffie quipped. Despite being tired she didn't lose her enthusiasm.

"Vincent?" Leon, who in his anger at having his sleep disrupted left the house only in a wifebeater and boxers gave the same confused look to Vincent all the others had. Nobody had known Vincent for very long, but his shared interest in destroying the Heartless originally seven years ago had made him a close ally to the displaced residents of Hollow Bastion. But over the years he had become more and more distant with his friends, until several months ago he had stopped talking to them altogether.

"Vincent, maybe you should start from the beginning," Cloud suggested, sitting down at the table the strange girl was laid on. Aeris went to the back to grab her guests some drinks and they all sat down to listen to the dark man's story. Without mincing words, Vincent told them about the sudden appearance of the Heartless and the strange girl that they had attacked.

"How many where there?" Leon demanded.

"And they just came out of no where?" Cloud added.

"I didn't count. I saw them, I blasted them. There might have been as few as ten or as many as twenty, but I don't think there were any more. And yeah, one second there was nothing, and then I felt them around," Vincent replied bluntly.

Yuffie had stopped paying attention to the men, she had her head on the table and stared at the girl, who hadn't moved since Vincent arrived, "Who do you think she is?"

"I have no idea, but the Heartless were really interested in her," Vincent answered.

"Is she a Heartless?" Aeris asked.

"No." Vincent answered simply, "I'd tell if she were. It's odd that she isn't. There were a lot of Heartless and she wasn't fighting back, she shouldn't have her heart anymore,"

Suddenly, the girl on the table began to moan. Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up to look at all the people in the room. Her expression was vacant and indifferent, and though Vincent's cape had slipped a little off her shoulder, she made no attempt to move it back. Her already odd appearance seemed to become even stranger. On the side of her black hair, her eye was the same blood red as Vincent's, on the other her eye was bright blue. Aeris gently approached her, so not to scare her, "Hi there, don't be afraid, we're not going to hurt you. Are you alright?"

The girl didn't answer but her vacant expression vanished as though she suddenly realized the people around here were real.

"What's your name?" Yuffie asked.

The girl blinked a few times as though she was trying hard to remember, "I-I don't know,"

"What about where you come from?" Cloud added.

"I don't know…" her voice was quiet and light, and as frail and small as her pale body.

"Do you remember anything?" Leon said gently. For a few seconds she said nothing as she paused to think, but then sadly shook her head.

"If she can't remember who she is, there is little we can do for her," Cloud said flatly. Aeris and Yuffie gave him a horrified look but Leon nodded.

"Cloud's right. If what Vincent said is true and the Heartless are back, that means that the worlds are in danger again. But that also means the walls between the worlds are gone," Leon explained, "We might not be able to help her, but the only one who knows the most about the Heartless beside Sora is King Mickey,"

"Somebody will need to get a Gummi Ship and take her to the Magic Kingdom. I'll find Cid and go," Cloud volunteered.

"No," Vincent said suddenly, "The Heartless are back, you and Leon need to stay here and stop them from destroying Hollow Bastion again. This place has gone through too much already. I'll go, you won't need me,"

"Fine," Cloud nodded.

Aeris turned back to the mystery girl, "We're going to help you, okay. Do you mind going with Vincent?"

"No, I want to go," the girl said monotonely.

"Oh we can't keep doing this!" Yuffie said irritably, "Even if she doesn't remember her name we've got to call her _something_. The trip from here to Magic Kingdom isn't short, you can't exactly call her 'hey you',"

"That's true," Aeris looked around the shop and spotted one of the flowers she kept in the store's refrigerator, "This is called a Matilda's Heart, they are said to bloom best when raised by someone with a strong heart and has blue and red petals. Why don't we call her Matilda? Do you like that name?"

The girl nodded, "I like it a lot, it's pretty,"

"Okay, then until we learn your real name, we'll call you Matilda,"


	3. The Adventure Begins

Chapter Two The Adventure Begins

Looking for Cid in Hollow Bastion was not easy for Vincent. Not only was the pilot prone to wanderlust and never in the same place for very long, even in the small world of Hollow Bastion, Vincent had to now deal with a traveling companion. Matilda did not complain or do anything purposefully to slow Vincent down, but her strange behavior slowed down the trip considerably. Everyone at the florist shop lent something to the girl: she wore one of Cloud's shirts, borrowed a skirt from Aeris and socks and shoes from Yuffie. She looked strange in her attire, not only because it was mismatched and too big for her, but she also acted like she had never owned clothing before in her life. She walked awkwardly with uneven, unbalanced slow steps. But Vincent's biggest obstacle was her annoying habit to cling her hands onto Vincent's cape like a child and pull him down to her pace instead of her speeding up to his.

Despite this, fortune was on their side. Around their third day of searching they came across an old barn with lots of sparks and grinding noises coming from inside. Scattered around the ground were dozens of Gummi Blocks, the material used to make the interplanetary transport, it was well known Cid was an expert on the subject. Vincent and Matilda went inside and found the mechanic muttering and swearing from underneath a half-built Gummi Ship.

"Cid," Vincent called out to the man but he did not hear.

"Cid!" Vincent said louder still getting no response.

"CID!" still nothing. Losing patience Vincent swiftly kicked the man in the rump with one of his pointed boots.

Finally a reaction, "Hey! What's the big idea! When I get my hands on the guy who did that I'll…"

Ready for a fight, Cid came from beneath the ship with fists raised and looked from side to side before spotting the much taller man scowling at him. Seeing the familiar looming figure Cid set his hands down and gave Vincent a sheepish smile.

"Heh heh. Hey Vinny, long time, no see," the gruff older man beamed, "What brings you to cross my wayward path?"

"The Heartless are back," Vincent said emotionlessly, "We need to get to Magic Kingdom and see King Mickey,"

"The Heartless are back? That's fantastic!" Cid said enthusiastically. Matilda shot a horrified glance towards Vincent.

"I'm glad you're so broken up about it," Vincent said sarcastically.

Realizing how tactless his statement was Cid explained what he had meant, "This means the walls between worlds is gone, and I can go traveling again. Those Heartless are going down, but there are places I want to see. I was getting sick of just traveling Hollow Bastion all the time,"

"Good. Do you mind taking us?" Vincent said in a tone more of an order than a request.

"Heck no. I was just trying to upgrade the Highwind to somehow fly through the barriers, but now that there aren't any I don't need to worry!" Cid said happily. He shoved the random Gummi Blocks to the side and closed down the hood before opening the hatch and escorting Vincent and Matilda inside. He hopped into the cockpit and picking up the radio called out to his passengers, "Buckle up kids, the Highwind only has two speeds: fast and 'I think I'm gonna hurl',"

Before giving the two a chance to react, he pulled back on the thruster and the Gummi Ship Highwind blasted through the walls of the barn and shot into the sky. The only remnants that they were there was the sonic boom of the ship and the words 'Cid, I'm going to kill you' left behind in the sound barrier.

In space Vincent stared at the other worlds they passed by while Cid was entertaining Matilda with some of his adventures, "When that Heartless had me cornered all I had was a can of soda and bag of pop rock candies,"

"What did you do Cid?" Matilda said with baited breath. She was the perfect person to tell stories to; she gasped at the appropriate moments and held onto every single word. Cid was eating it up and beginning to embellish his already exaggerated stories.

"I have a better idea, Cid, why don't you say when we're going to get to Magic Kingdom?" Vincent interrupted irritably. He continued to stare out the windows of the Gummi Ship.

"You're a real party pooper, Vinny, anyone ever tell you that?" Cid sniffed. Vincent ignored him, "We're almost there, it's just past Transverse Town. Hey, maybe we should stop by and say hello to everyone there,"

"No." Vincent said curtly, "We don't have time, we need to talk to King Mickey as soon as possible, we need to get Kingdom Hearts sealed before the Heartless can destroy any worlds,"

"You're the boss," Cid was disappointed, but he shrugged and veered the ship towards Magic Kingdom and initiated the warp drive.

As they blasted out of the light of warp speed they could see the world known as the Magic Kingdom coming into sight. It was a small world with lots of blue and green with fluffy white clouds in the clean air. Magic Kingdom was divided into some large blocks of land where the castle and cities were and small chains of islands with fewer inhabitants, but close ties to one and other.

Cid started the decent slowly at first but sped up when he got the correct angle. BAM. He had so concentrated on driving the Gummi Ship that he jumped straight up when something hit the Highwind. "WHAT WAS THAT!"

"A meteor maybe?" Vincent sat puzzled. Suddenly another hit rocked the ship.

"That ain't no meteor!" Cid started rapidly hitting the keys on his keyboard trying to quickly get information on his screens, "Vinny, aren't you supposed to be some kind of Heartless detector or something?"

"Those aren't Heartless!" Vincent said defensively. He looked out his window to try to figure out where the two hits had come from. His eyes darted across the blackness of space, trying to read what was going on when two more blows slammed into the side of the spacecraft.

"Vincent, look!" Matilda tugged on his cape and pointed out her window. As Cid continued his approach towards Magic Kingdom five or six small Gummi Ships became visible, they had been going in and out a larger black Gummi Ship with a pirate symbol painted in white on it.

"What the? Pirates?" Cid blurted, "Since when does Magic Kingdom have pirates?"

"What does that matter? They're attacking us! Do something!" Vincent ordered.

"Keep your pants on Vinny," Cid grinned before lifting up a flap on the control panel and flipping several hidden switches, "If those pirates want to dance, we'll dance. I just hope they like our tune,"

For a few seconds nothing happened and Vincent prepared to yell at Cid again when from the relatively tiny Highwind a blast of blue colored light blasted from the front of the ship throwing the passengers' heads back. It hit two or three of the small pirate ships and sent them hurtling towards the ocean of Magic Kingdom. The pirates replied with a barrage of hits from their guns and lasers. The Highwind avoided most of them before releasing the blue laser once again, hitting the last few ships.

Cid let out a sigh of relief, thinking he had won the battle, but the front hatches of the giant black Gummi Ship creaked open and a red plane shaped ship flew out. Cid booted up the laser again and aimed at the new opponent and fired. He missed.

The red ship veered deftly out of the way of the attack before firing back. Cid pulled hard on the controls to avoid the new blast, and felt the edge of the shot graze the Highwind's hull. Cid growled, turned off the laser and switched to the ship's main guns. Using a joystick to aim, the skilled pilot fired small missiles at the red ship going from left to right in a consistent stream, hoping that at least one of the projectiles would hit. Though about the same size the red ship was extremely agile and avoided every single attack before firing back. Cid jerked the ship violently to the right, knocking Vincent and Matilda over.

Cid spat out a profanity, "Bad news kids, this is one fight we're going to lose. That jerk just hit our main thruster, if we're going to get out of this alive we've got to make an emergency landing before he can hit us again,"

The pilot of the Highwind pushed the ship into a sharp decline, just to the point of entering a tailspin. Unfortunately the red ship followed close behind. Cid did his best to evade it, but at the angle they were at now there would be no way to maneuver without the Gummi disintegrating from the friction of entering Magic Kingdom's atmosphere. A sound from behind them told the passengers the red ship's cannons were powering up. Cid just started pulling out of the decline, the castle of the world just visible on the curve of the world's horizon. He tried to roll, slamming Vincent and Matilda against the sides of the cabin but it was to no avail.

With sickening 'POW' the Highwind took a direct hit from the laser of the enemy's cannon, ripping part of the ship away. Cid cursed a chain of swear words as they hurtled into a free fall of Magic Kingdom's ocean. Matilda clung desperately onto Vincent and screamed. Vincent stared indifferently at the water, glad for once that he was unable to feel the fear that would certainly be gripping him had he had his heart.


	4. The Keyblade Master

Chapter Three The Keyblade Master

In the middle of a great lecture hall two boys wearing white shirts, slacks and dark blue ties sat halfway up the rows. One had white hair and sea green eyes and was absently taking notes and looking extremely bored. The other had light brown hair and shining blue eyes, he had his chin on his fist and was staring foggily at the head of the person in front of him. It had been five years since Sora last wielded the power of the Keyblade and now twenty-one he had finally achieved what he and Riku had planned for so many years: they had left Destiny Island. Through hard work, study and the help of Kairi whenever they slacked off, Sora, Riku and Kairi had graduated school and had started college on nearby Alto Island. Sora sat in class daydreaming as the professor explained the finer details of molecular bonding. He tried to pay attention to class, but something inside of him was telling him something had changed, that he was desperately needed.

It was not the only thing on his mind. It had been many years since he last saw his dear friends Donald and Goofy and missed them terribly. Inevitably he'd always be separated from someone he cared for, that was the destiny of the worlds. Always apart, always connected. Sora didn't understand why this had to be. Why was it that Kingdom Hearts had to be unsealed and in danger in order to be with his friends? Why couldn't he visit them whenever he chose?

"Yo Sora, wake up you bonehead," Sora finally realized class was over, he had not taken any notes. He groaned and dropped his head on his notebook. His best friend Riku shook his shoulder again, "Wakey wakey sunshine. Jeez Sora, you've been really out of it lately,"

"Hmm? Oh sorry Riku. I've just had a lot on my mind lately," Sora shuffled up and stuffed his things in his bag, he swung the bag over his shoulder and dragged his steps out of the room.

"I know what you mean. All my life I've wanted to get off Destiny Island, but leaving hasn't changed anything. Everything is still the same," Riku sighed.

"That's not it at all," Sora explained, "I just feel like something big is going to happen, but there is nothing I can do—"

"Hey guys!" A girl with reddish brown hair and light blue eyes ran over to the boys, "How was class?"

"Oh hey Kairi," Riku yawned and stretched out his arms, "I swear, Dr. Fowling must be the most **BORING** human being on earth. It's no wonder Sora fell asleep during class,"

"Sora, you didn't, did you?" Kairi sighed. Sora started to stutter.

"Okay, not really, but he was close," Riku admitted, "You can stop looking so nervous pal, you can use my notes if you want,"

"Thanks Riku," Sora slumped his shoulder, "Sorry I haven't been myself lately guys. I was just telling Riku, I've just been feeling off,"

Kairi snuggled up to him, "I understand, I've been feeling the same way,"

Riku frowned and interlocked his fingers behind his head as the three walked out of the building. The sun was just beginning to set and the stars were just beginning to appear in the sky, "It's weird, we've all been feeling like something isn't right, that we need to get out of here. Do you think this has anything to do with Kingdom Hearts?"

"I don't know," Sora looked up at the sky forlornly, "Even if it is, I don't know if we can do anything. We're stuck here,"

Meanwhile, from a dark place far away, a group of people had watched through a large screen as Cid, Vincent and Matilda crashed into the ocean. Though they watched the scene quietly, there was a definite animosity in the room. Several figures sat at a large dining table: at the head was a man in a red hood with horns sticking out of his head with a small nervous looking goblin at his feet. Further down was a young man with long blue hair and elegantly embroidered robes. Down from him was an undoubtedly beautiful but cruel looking woman. A tiger in a tailored suit sat next to a duck in a flamboyant yellow costume. Near them was a woman in outlandish purple robes, drumming her long fingers on the table while her assistant was studying a recipe book. Further down the table and at the far end a group of four people busied themselves with food, drink and a card game, not nearly as interested in what was going on as the others were. Except for the four, they were all looking anxiously looking towards a throne that sat adjacent to the dining table, where a figure sat in shadow.

"You assured us you would gain the power of Kingdom Hearts," the horned figure hissed.

"Yet you come back from the world beyond the door with nothing more than control over the Heartless," the blue haired man added eloquently.

"Patience, my friends, we assumed the Heart of All worlds was only protected by the Keyblade Master and the King, none of us could anticipate that the Heart had it's own…" the shadowed figure's hollow voice paused, "…defenses,"

"Know this 'friend'. I do not intend to end up like the fool witch Maleficent, Ansem or the Organization. If you intend to take their route, we will part company here," the horned man hissed.

"Maleficent, Ansem and the Organization sought out to rule Kingdom Hearts. That is not what I plan. They lost to themselves to the darkness, but had no desire to, but rather to have the darkness lose to them," the shadow continued.

"Do ya mind talkin' in plain English?" one of the four people eating interrupted, "You don't make any sense!"

"Fine, Reno, let me put it down to your level. No one can ever control Kingdom Hearts, but if you let it control you and bend to its will, its will and your will shall become the same," the shadow explained.

"Eh?"

"Friends, in order to succeed in our plans and ambitions we cannot rule Kingdom Hearts. We must _become_ Kingdom Hearts,"

"A plan I support, M, but you still lost her," The red robed man snarled. A murmur of anger rang through the room.

The shadowed figure seemed unperturbed, "You seem to think you all can do better than me, go ahead, prove me wrong. I am not one of those stupidly egoed persons who will stand in the way of someone with a good idea just to remain in charge. I don't need to stay in charge. As long as I get what I want I'm happy. The ball is in your court Sher Khan, the next play belongs to you,"

The tiger in the handmade tailored wool suit had a smile visible in the barely lit room, "M, my dear 'friend', did you not watch what had happened? Everything has already been arranged,"


	5. Trouble in Magic Kingdom

Chapter Four Trouble in Magic Kingdom

The pieces of what was formerly the Highwind floated lazily in the perfect undulating currents of the bright blue ocean. The glasslike calm of the water was broken as Vincent thrust his head out of the water and sucked in a lung full of fresh air. He grasped desperately onto one of the floating Gummi pieces and allowed himself some time to catch his breath. He pushed his sopping black hair out of his eyes and looked around. He did not see any of the others, "Cid! Matilda!"

"Woooooee!" Cid suddenly popped to the surface and grabbed onto a piece of his once beloved ship, "That was some ride. It's a shame to see the ol' girl go like that, but if she was to go, this is exactly how I wanted it!"

"Where's Matilda?" Vincent repeated.

"I dunno, I thought she was with you," Cid's enthusiasm sank quickly, "You don't think she…"

"I don't know," A tiny gasp caught the two men's attention. Matilda was clutching desperately to one of the ship's part, shivering and wide-eyed in terror. Vincent let go of his piece of debris and swam over to collect her.

"You okay darlin'?" Cid asked worriedly. Vincent grabbed her around her waist and pulled her over to the pilot. Being in the Heartless man's arms she slowly nodded her head.

Though glad, or at least he would have felt glad if he could, Vincent's attention turned from the survival of his companions to their pending situation, "So what do we do now? We can't stay in this water too long,"

"I'm not too worried. Vinny, this is Magic Kingdom, it's not like there are sharks in the water or anything that can attack us," Cid reassured him.

"Not necessarily. Don't forget if Kingdom Hearts has been unsealed, the Heartless could already be here. And even if they aren't we can't stay here forever, we'll eventually get too tired to hang on, or catch hypothermia. Matilda already is colder than most people, I don't know if she'll survive too much longer," Vincent stated. Cid sighed as he realized the Heartless man was right. For what seemed like forever they stayed silent, trying to think of what to do next. And like a miracle the rumble of a plane's engine was heard overhead.

"Vinny, look! A plane! Man I wish we still had some flares," Cid said hopefully.

"My gun got wet, but it still might fire," Vincent reached behind his back and pulled off his shotgun, the outside metal was already begin to feel gritty as the effects of the saltwater were already beginning to rust the weapon. With a silent prayer that maybe luck was on his side he pointed the weapon straight up and pulled on the trigger. A mushy 'click' told him the first cartridge was wasted. He snarled impatiently as the plane that had been approaching was already beginning to pass over them. He clicked the dead bullet out of the firing chamber and awkwardly, as the not let go of Matilda, searched for one that was not ruined. Finding the driest one in his possession he loaded his riffle and pointed it up again and pulled the trigger. Still nothing. Vincent wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold back his frustration. Without expecting anything, he kept pulling the trigger as the plane became smaller and smaller. A final click and the deafening crack of the explosion of gunpowder shot into the sky. Vincent blinked in surprise, it had worked.

The brownish cargo plane turned around and descended towards the shipwrecked group. But apparently the pilot had misjudged his distance and came in on them too rapidly. In an ungraceful 'plop' the seaplane landed in the water. The force of the plane caused a small tidal wave sending the three temporarily underwater. They popped back up, once again soaked and gasping for air. The pilot of the plane opened the side hatch, "Heh heh, sorry about that. Landings aren't my specialty. Everyone alright out there?"

"Launchpad?" Cid blurted. The pilot was a bulky looking duck with a cleft chin with aviator goggles, jacket and scarf, "Ha ha! I don't believe it, Launchpad it's me!"

"Cid?" the duck blinked, "Old buddy!"

Launchpad and Cid started laughing heartily, though Vincent saw nothing funny about the situation. The pilot of the plane threw the three life preservers and brought them inside the plane. He gave all of them blankets and something to eat. Cid couldn't get over his astonishment, "Launchpad, it's been a while. Guys, this is Launchpad Mcquack, an old pilot buddy of mine; we met before Kingdom Hearts was sealed by Sora that first time. And Launchpad, this is Vinny and Matilda,"

"Nice ta meet ya Vinny!" the pilot said friendly.

"Vincent," he corrected, "My name is Vincent Valentine,"

"Aw you're no fun. He hates it, but call him, Vinny. That boy doesn't have enough fun in his life," Cid teased.

"What are you guys doing here anyway?" Launchpad asked as he got back into the cockpit of the cargo plane and started up the engines.

"Kingdom Hearts is unsealed. We came here to warn King Mickey," Vincent said bluntly. Launchpad just about fell out of his seat.

"Oh no! That means the Heartless are going to come back. I don't want the worlds to disappear again," he said sadly.

"Unfortunately, Captain Happy over here is right, that's why we came. We were heading for the castle when we got shot out of the air," Cid added.

"Ah yeah, the air pirates. They've been making life miserable for all of us. It's next to impossible to get from Cape Suzette to Toon Town without getting attacked by them. They came here about seven months ago. If it weren't for that nice business man Sher Khan we'd be completely cut off," the pilot gradually increased his elevation.

"You're plane is flying, can you take us to the castle?" Matilda asked.

"That's a big no-can-do, little lady. I might have been lucky so far, but I'll definitely be toast if I try to head for the castle,"

"So then were are we headed?" Vincent interjected.

"The last safe place before Toon Town, Louie's," As soon as Launchpad mentioned it, a tree-house looking building covering a small island with lots of planes and boats docked came into view. He circled it twice, slowly approaching it before crashing on the ground and skidding right in of the door to the bar and restaurant, "Perfect landing!"

Cid, Matilda and Vincent slowly got up shakily off the floor. The tall dark man grumbled, "I'm beginning to see why you're his friend, Cid,"

When they had entered a gray bear was telling a fanciful story on top of the bar, using an orangutan to demonstrate. Everyone was looking at him and laughing, when one of the patrons turned around, spotted Cid, and tapped the shoulder of the person he was sitting next to. Soon the entire bar turned their attention from the bear to the older blonde man, "Hey everyone, it's Cid!"

"Cid! It's been forever since we've seen ya' pal, how's it going!" Some of the other pilots greeted the blonde man heartily, shaking his hand and slapping him on the back. The bear jumped off the bar and pushed through the crowd of other pilots to greet Cid.

"Ha ha! Baloo, I knew that was you on the bar!" Cid laughed when the bear took him in a friendly headlock.

"What'cha doing here pal?" Baloo asked, "I didn't think you'd be able to come back here seeing as you're from another world and all,"

Cid suddenly didn't seem as excited as he realized he'd have to tell all his friends the terrible news. He removed himself from under Baloo's arm and ran his fingers through his hair, "Well, um guys, I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. The good news is all us Gummi Ship pilots have got places to go again. The bad news is, the reason we can is because someone unsealed Kingdom Hearts…"

A sudden silence filled the normally noisy bar. Whispers of denial and disbelief murmured through the room. Cid laughed nervously, not sure what the reaction would be. Seeing the sudden hopelessness on the faces of some of the pilots, Vincent did something he rarely did: he tried to cheer them up, "Which is why we're here. We're going to talk to King Mickey, he'll know what to do. We might just be panicking, or if need be, King Mickey will send for the Keyblade Master before any of the worlds have a chance to disappear,"

The orangutan who had been play sparring with Baloo hopped behind the bar and cleaned a glass, "What is this? A bar or an oil painting? Someone get the band playing. If King Mickey knows about this, then everything is okay,"

"He's right! Louie's right!" some of the pilots said. The bar came back to life and people started talking, dancing and ordering drinks again.

"Yo, Louie! Two Papaya Whirlwinds. I'm telling you Vinny, even if you don't feel any emotion, Louie's Papaya Whirlwinds are liquid happiness," Cid slumped onto a chair at the bar cheerfully and pulled out a stool for Matilda, "And a Chocolate Banana milkshake for the little lady,"

Vincent, however, did not sit down, "The only problem is we _haven't_ seen King Mickey yet, he still doesn't know. We got shot out of the air,"

"Yeah, Don Carnage got them. I scooped them out of the water when I was coming here," Launchpad added before sitting between Matilda and Cid, "I was lucky they didn't get me too,"

"Bah!" Baloo snapped, "Ol' 'Don Carnage' doesn't scare me. His bite isn't half as bad as his bark, I don't know why we're letting him push us out of our own airspace,"

"How long have these air pirates been around, Mr. Baloo?" Matilda asked sipping quietly her milkshake.

"Only a couple of months. That's why this is so cotton-pickin' ridiculous!" Baloo slammed his paw on the bar, "This all started when that 'Sher Khan' creep came,"

"I thought Sher Khan was helping the pilots," said Matilda.

"Baloo, how can you say that? Without Sher Khan, nobody would be able to get anything from Cape Suzette to Toon Town!" Launchpad sounded horrified.

"Don't you find it the least bit suspicious that Sher Khan comes to Cape Suzette just after Don Carnage and the Air Pirates start attacking? And that the only way to keep them away is to pay Sher Khan to have his people do our work for us?" Baloo questioned.

"Cous is right. Something doesn't smell right about Mr. Suit-and-Stripes," Louie nodded in agreement.

"Well I don't believe you! I say that Sher Khan is helping us, if he were doing this to make money he could make us pay as much as he wanted for the stuff that gets shipped in, and add a tariff too. But nothin' in Cape Suzette has gotten any more expensive, and we're still getting paid for our work," Lauchpad said defensively, "Now if you don't mind I've got to get back before dark. Mr. McD' needs me to get him to some of the Southern Islands,"

"Hey pal, no need to get mad," Baloo shrugged but Launchpad walked away in a huff. The bear pilot turned back to Cid, "Even if Stripey isn't charging us through the roof doesn't this isn't something really bad. Barely anybody's been to Toon Town, it's like we're being isolated,"

"Yeah, no sane pilot flies past here," Louie gave Cid and Vincent another round of the fruity drinks.

"So you're saying there's no way for us to fly to Toon Town?" Vincent asked point-blank.

"I said no _sane_ pilot will fly past here," Louie grinned.

"I don't let the Air Pirates bug me, I've never stopped going to Toon Town," Baloo shined his nails on his shirt, "If you need to get there to talk to King Mickey, you can count on me,"

"When can we leave?" Vincent continued.

"As soon as I finish my drink," Baloo slurped his cocktail and rubbed his mouth with his arms.

Vincent and Matilda stood up, but Cid did not, "You kids go on without me. I'm going to stay here and catch up with some old friends. You can count on Baloo, he's almost as good a pilot as I am,"

The Heartless and the mysterious girl followed the bear outside to one of the planes docked. It was a yellow cargo plane with a red tip and seems to have seen better days. Vincent frowned at seeing the unreliable aircraft. The Highwind was not an old ship and had seen its demise against the quick moving Air Pirates, Vincent was sure this plane wouldn't stand a chance. Baloo on the other hand had the same sappy look at his craft that Cid had with his, "Behold the Seaduck. Ain't she a beauty?"

Matilda seemed amazed and delighted, "Oh, she's _wonderful_," She ran right up to it. Vincent just sighed, the girl must not have forgotten who she was, but had her memories erased to think the 'Seaduck' was wonderful.

"Hey, Poppa Bear! We're leaving already?" suddenly a little boy bear in a green sweater and a backward cap was visible in the back of the plane.

"Hey Little Britches, we got put on an extremely important mission. But of course who else but us would be put on one?" Baloo said full of himself, "This is my adopted son, Kit. Kit these are…eh he, I just realized I don't know your names,"

"Vincent," the Heartless man said in his typical blunt fashion, "And this is Matilda,"

"Okay, Vinny and Matilda, let's get going," Baloo slapped Vincent on the back and ushered the two onto the plane. Vincent ground his teeth and sighed. Matilda acted as though she was having the time of her life. Vincent sat next to Baloo in the cockpit while Kit and Matilda played with toy cars in the back of the plane. The bear started up the plane. The first two times he started the engine it failed, not helping to inspire anymore confidence in Vincent's opinion of the plane. The Seaduck finally took off and headed into the twilight.

Twenty minutes had passed and Vincent was surprised to see Toon Town approaching on the horizon. He was beginning to see why Baloo was so upset with the other pilots not trying to fly there; it didn't seem that there would be any problems. The lights of the city became more and more visible, but soon a second set of lights appeared: the Air Pirates had returned.

"Looks like we got company," Baloo stated and began to maneuver. Vincent had expected the bear to start veering away from the zooming Gummi Ships, but instead he smiled and flew right into them. He turned back to the cargo hold, "C'mon Kit, looks like it's time to give Donny a welcome basket!"

Kit nodded and ran to a mini-fridge located near the passengers' seats. He ran up to the cockpit with his arms loaded with fruit and crescent shaped object tucked under his arm, "Ready, Poppa Bear!"

Baloo zoomed the Seaduck to the closest pirate ship, which began to fire at him. Undisturbed, Baloo opened up a window and threw several oranges and papayas out the side. The organic matter hit the plane's propeller and pureed into a thick syrup. The syrup hit the pirate's windshield, blinding the pilot's vision. Unable to scrap it off, the ship fell into a tailspin and crashed into the water below. Baloo repeated the process several more times, sending dozens more ships into the sea below, "Ha ha! Nobody can resist the Seaduck Smoothie!"

"Oh no!" Matilda squeaked, "It's that red plane that destroyed the Highwind!"

"That must be Don Carnage's rig," Baloo concluded, "Well, Little Britches, it's your turn,"

"Right!" Kit took the object he had been holding and flicked it open. He grabbed a rope with a handle attached and ran to the back of the Seaduck. Baloo pulled back a lever and the opened the cargo hold of the plane. Kit jumped out, holding onto the rope and landed onto the object. Catching one of the air currents, he began coasting and moving with the air. Pulling out a pineapple, he threw it at Don Carnage's Gummi Ship. It hit the windshield and dented it, "Direct hit!"

"Nice work kiddo," Baloo called out over the plane's radio, "That should take care of him!" The red Gummi sank several thousand feet in altitude, but did not crash. Instead it zoomed back up to the Seaduck's level and started firing again, "What the? Kit get back in here now!"

Vincent could see Baloo was surprised and greatly concerned. He switched from an offensive to defensive maneuvers and Kit came back into the plane. Vincent asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Oh yeah, big time!" Baloo admitted, "Donny back there usually goes away after the first couple of hits. Normally the Air Pirates don't follow for this long. Not only that he's got some major caliber shooters on his wreck, those are new. He could blast us to Kingdom Come with those things!"

"So what are we going to do, Mr. Baloo?" Matilda asked worriedly.

"We're going to turn my baby around and go back to Louie's. I hate to have to say uncle to those doorknobs, but I'm not about to put the Seaduck, Kit and Toon Town in more danger than I have to!" Baloo said as he began to turn the plane around.

"Wait," Vincent gripped Baloo's paw, "We've come too far to turn around now, not when we're this close. I'm not the kind of guy who lets myself get pushed around. Open the cargo hold again."

"You're a braver guy than I am, pal," Baloo shook his head, "But no way!"

"Trust me, I'm not going to let these pirates blow me out of the sky twice in one day," Vincent unstrapped his seatbelt and walked to the back of the place, grabbing the rope Kit had used when he went sky surfing.

"Fine!" Baloo sighed, "No wonder you and Cid are friends, you both are just as reckless!"

Vincent let out a humorless laugh and Baloo pulled on the hatch lever again. Kit turned back to Vincent, "Hey Mr. Vincent, do you need to borrow my airboard?"

"No thanks kid," Vincent jumped out of the back of the plane, falling until the rope ran out of slack. Switching the rope from his good hand to his metal claw, he tightened his grip like a vice and with his other arm, grabbed his shotgun off his back. Aiming at the red Gummi, he began firing.

"Wow, your friend is really brave!" Kit said to Matilda.

"More like crazy! Does that guy think he'll really be able to take down a Gummi Ship with that peashooter of his?" Baloo squawked.

Matilda gave a reassuring look to Baloo, "Vincent is much more than he looks like,"

Vincent knew that if he could just hit the ship it would go down, but with the jerky movements of the plane, aim would be next to impossible. His selection to come outside was calculated, he knew if he'd start firing at Don Carnage, he'd fire back at him and not the Seaduck. It did not make his mission any easier, but knowing that the people on board would be safe helped to improve his concentration. He focused, the pupils of his red eyes narrowed as he aimed again at the red plane. Like he predicted, the Air Pirate was now firing at him, but being a small target, and not being able to feel any emotion, he was not worried. He relaxed his body, adjusted his riffle and after waiting three seconds, squeezed the trigger. The bullet escaped the chamber in a fury and exploded on contact with the Gummi Ship. Loosing one of its engines, the red ship fell like a rock into the water.

"I don't believe it! He did it!" Baloo said in disbelief as he opened the cargo hold again and let Vincent back onto the plane, "That was amazing! How did you do that?!"

Vincent was unenthusiastic as he hid his clawed hand and put his gun back on his back, "You've got your special recipes, I've got mine,"


	6. Court With the King

Chapter Five Court with the King

Baloo landed the Seaduck untouched at Toon Town's airport. The bear pilot directed his two passengers on how to get to the castle and shook Vincent's hand before he and Matilda got into a cab. Matilda waved goodbye to her new friends, and looked slightly sad as the cab pulled away and got smaller and smaller in the distance, "Vincent, do you think we'll ever see them again?"

Vincent shrugged, "Probably, we'll need them to take us back to get Cid,"

"Well I know that, but I mean after we go back to our own worlds," Matilda clarified.

"If Kingdom Hearts is sealed, then the worlds are separated, that's just how it has to be,"

"That stinks, I wish I could travel to the worlds whenever I wanted to!"

"You sound a lot like Cid," Vincent commented, "Besides, why are you even worried about that? We don't even know what world you're from,"

"But that's why we're going to see King Mickey, he's going to tell me," Matilda said happily, "I'd miss you too if it turns out we're from different worlds,"

"We're here," Vincent pointed out the window to the large castle with colorful standards and blue towers, now illuminated to be visible in the evening. They stepped out of the cab and Vincent paid the driver and walked up the path with Matilda until they came outside the gates.

A guard walking along the parapet above spotted them and called down to the Heartless man, "Who goes there?"

"My name is Vincent Valentine, and I need to speak with your King," Vincent replied, "It's important,"

"I don't know who you are, fella, but I don't trust the looks of you. Court is over for this evening. Try again in the morning and I might let you pass,"

"Listen! I'm not saying what I have to say is important just because I say so. I need to speak with the King _now_. I've come a long way, all the way from Hollow Bastion!" Vincent gripped an iron bar of the gate to not lose his patience.

"I don't care if you've come from Timbuktu, you're not seeing the king tonight!" The guard yelled back, "If it's that important just tell me and I'll tell the king,"

"I'm not going to tell some peon vital information that could effect the fate of all worlds!" the last of Vincent's fizzling patience escaped, when suddenly he tried a different approach, "Listen, just tell anyone in charge I'm from Hollow Bastion and I know Leon, Cloud, Yuffie and Aeris. They'll know what I'm talking about,"

"What's this bout' Leon n' Cloud?" from one of the guard's towers a tall dog in clunky looking armor and visor that constantly fell walked up to the guard, "Is there a problem?"

"Sir-sir Goofy! Yeah, this guy won't go away! I've told him he can't see the King tonight, it's too late in the evening," the guard explained.

Vincent suddenly recognized the name, Goofy was one of the friends of Keyblade master, and knew his friends, "I'm not going to go away until I get what I want. Sir Goofy, right? Well I know you'll be someone with a brain larger than a peanut. I need to speak with King Mickey right now. I've come from Hollow Bastion, it's about Kingdom Hearts!"

"Kingdom Hearts? Gawrsh!" Goofy yelped and turned to the guard, "Open the gate right now, this is really important!"

"Well if he would have just told me I would have let him in already, sir," the guard explained. Vincent would have broken the gate to get to the fool had the iron barrier not moved open. Matilda pulled on Vincent's cape and Goofy led the two inside the castle to the audience room. The large doors swung open, and on the throne on the far side of the room sat a short mouse with a crown on his head and a yellow dog at his feet. The dog jumped up, barked and ran over to Matilda, greeting her sloppily. The girl giggled from the dog licking her, though the dog growled and crouched away when Vincent stepped into the room. Vincent was not offended; animals have as much to fear from a Heartless as a person.

"C'mon, Pluto, that's enough boy," the king laughed, "Hello there, and welcome to Magic Kingdom, I've been told you have something to tell me about Kingdom Hearts,"

"Yes sir, we do," Vincent said politely, but did not bow, "My name is Vincent Valentine, and I come from Hollow Bastion. I've come here for two reasons, one is to ask for your help, the other is to tell you that Kingdom Hearts has been unsealed,"

"Oh dear, that is a serious allegation. How can you be so certain?" King Mickey said worriedly.

"Because Heartless have been seen in Hollow Bastion, they attacked this girl," Vincent then pointed to Matilda.

"It sounds like you need to start from the beginning," King Mickey asked Vincent to tell him exactly what happened four days ago. Vincent started with how, he, was in fact a Heartless and how he was transformed by Ansem. Then how he can sense other Heartless and had found Matilda being attacked and about the strange mark on her body, and how she didn't remember anything about herself, "I can tell, Mr. Valentine that every word you have told me is the truth, this concerns me. It sounds like Kingdom Hearts has in fact been unsealed, and I am worried because I haven't the foggiest idea who could have do it, this comes to me as a complete surprise. And as a Keyblade wielder I am more tuned the events of the Heart of All Worlds than other people. But what also concerns me is this girl. Do you know your name?"

"I-I don't know, sir. For know I am just being called Matilda," Matilda said bashfully.

"And you have no idea what world you come from?" the king pressed, "Or how you got to Hollow Bastion?"

"No sir, I don't remember anything about myself," Matilda lowered her head.

"She just came out of nowhere, King, the Heartless attacked her, there were quite a few of them, but she didn't lose her heart," Vincent added.

"Could I please see your mark, Matilda?" the King asked gently. Matilda pulled down her shirt slightly, just until part of the purple keyhole shaped mark was visible. The king studied it and said nothing.

"So what do we do now?" Vincent asked bluntly.

"I am going to get the Keyblade Master, it will only be a matter of time before the Heartless start invading the worlds again. But Mr. Valentine I need to ask you to do me a favor," King Mickey said seriously. Vincent stared silently back at the king, "You need to find this girl's world and bring her back. I don't know what her connection is to the Heartless but I think if we return her, it will answer many questions about who unsealed Kingdom Hearts,"

"Yes sir," Vincent nodded somberly. He and Matilda exchanged glances. He knew she was very strange, but to think she had a connection with the events occurring had him greatly concerned, and from the worried look on her face, she was thinking the same thing he was.

"But it is too late this evening to do anything. I will send for Sora and in the morning you should leave to start searching for Matilda's real home. Since I probably won't see you when you leave, I wish the best of luck to both of you," the king got up off his throne and walked straight up to Vincent and Matilda and shook both their hands. Vincent bowed his head then he and the mysterious girl left the room. Two chipmunks escorted them to their rooms. Matilda wished him goodnight and skipped off to go to sleep. Vincent entered his room and slumped onto the bed without changing his clothes or removing any of his tools. He was too tired and from years of sleeping on the ground in the Magnificent Garden, he could sleep anywhere in just about any condition. Kingdom Hearts was unsealed, the Heartless would return, worlds would disappear, people would suffer and somehow Matilda was connected to all of it. He sank into a dreamless sleep, but before closing his eyes he had only one last thought: this is all your fault, Ansem. Wherever you are, I hope you're suffering.

The next day Vincent and Matilda left the castle. Before leaving, the king's workers gave Vincent a new kind of riffle and Matilda a new set of clothes. Instead of her mismatched outfit she was given a light pink dress that cut across the shoulder and went past her knees. Though she looked much cuter, she didn't shake her awkward look in it. The two of them caught up to Baloo and Kit again and headed back to Louie's. Once again, the Air Pirates attacked.

"I don't believe this!" Baloo groaned, "They _never _attack you on the way back to Cape Suzette. I wonder what Don Carnage is up to…"

"This is the third time they've attacked us, there must be a reason behind it," Vincent said thoughtfully.

"Well, this time I'm not pulling any fancy tricks. We're heading for Louie's and we ain't stopping," Baloo flicked some switches and sped up the plane trying to outrun the pirates, "If we can just get there, we'll be home free,"

Baloo had counted on the fact that the Air Pirates didn't attack on land and once landed thought they'd be safe. Don Carnage's ship continued to attack the Seaduck and Baloo continued to run away. Soon Louie's appeared and Baloo reduced his plane's altitude, figuring they were now out of danger. However, the Air Pirates continued to follow.

"What in blazes is going on?" Baloo blurted as he docked in front of Louie's and turned off of the Seaduck's engines. He stepped out of the plane and saw the Air Pirates prepare to land, "If I didn't know better, I'd say they're going to come in here,"

Vincent was beginning to get a nagging feeling, "Come on, Matilda, let's go inside," Cid and the other pilots greeted Vincent and Baloo, but Vincent wasted no time, "Cid, we're leaving now. I've seen the king and we've been put on a mission: we need to get Matilda back to her home world,"

"Well Vinny, I'd love to, but I don't see how you think we're going to do that. The Highwind got blown to smithereens,"

"I don't care how we get out of here, we just need to do it. Now." Vincent was more direct and blunt than usual. Before Baloo could explain to Louie the strange behavior of the pirates, or Vincent could argue with Cid, the doors to the bar crashed open and in stepped a coyote in a captain's uniform.

"Behold for I am the infamous Air Pirate: Don Carnage!" the pirate said dramatically, striking a pose. The bar filled with disbelieving whispers and gasps. Cid had been in the middle of chastising Vincent when he suddenly fell into a shocked silence. His waving pointer finger froze, "Mwahaha! This is exactly what I was expecting! Cower in fear!"

Baloo, however, remained unimpressed, "Well, well, if it isn't the sky rat, Donny. What brings your flea-bitten hide into our turf? I thought you were too much of a coward to actually fight on a level playing field?"

"It is DON CARNAGE! Don Carnage! How dare you insult me!" the pirate got into Baloo's face and flapped his arms. Realizing how foolish he appeared, he stepped back and regained his composure, "I shall spare all of you and this bar if you just give me the girl with different colored hair and eyes,"

Matilda gasped and shrank behind Vincent. Both Cid and the dark man exchanged glances and changed their pose, ready for a fight. Don Carnage asked again, "I know she is here. Where is the girl with different eyes and hair?!"

"You want her, big nose?" Cid sneered, "You're going to have to go through the two of us,"

Don Carnage walked right up to Cid, the two were the same height, and got into his face. Vincent on the other hand, was a head taller than either of them, and grabbed the pirate by the back of his collar. The pirate yelped and cowered when face to face with Vincent but then Don Carnage called for an attack. A familiar feeling went through the tall man. Suddenly entering the bar were dozens and dozens of Heartless.

Cid's eyes widened and the people in the bar began to panic. Baloo, Kit and Louie were the only ones not to get scared, and began fighting the Heartless with their bare hands. Seeing their bravery, the panic changed into pure adrenaline and a massive bar brawl began. Cid however grabbed Vincent's attention, "Listen, you've got to get the girl out of here!"

"How?!" yelled Vincent, "The Highwind is gone, remember?"

"Last time I was here, me and Baloo worked on a Gummi Ship, it's hidden under the bar. Take Matilda and get out of here!" Cid hissed, "Don't worry about flying it, the thing practically drives itself,"

"What about you?" Vincent asked.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. Besides, you think I'm going to pass up action like this?" With that Cid punched Don Carnage in the face and joined the fray. Vincent grabbed Matilda's hand and Cid called back to them one last time, "Good luck sweetie, I hope you find your home,"

Matilda nodded and tears welled up in her eyes. Vincent jerked on her hand and they ran. Louie had opened a trap door behind a fruit pile and ushered them inside. They ran down a series of stone steps that led to an open crevice under the island that led outside. Docked out was a yellow Gummi Ship with a red tip, across the hull were the words 'Seaduck II'. The Heartless man helped Matilda inside and opened the cockpit for himself. He strapped himself and looked at the controls and suddenly reminded himself to punch Cid if he ever saw him again. 'Flies itself,' he thought. The controls looked impossible. Vincent started pressing random buttons, hoping one of them would at least turn the Gummi Ship on.

"Vincent look out!" Matilda screamed. Don Carnage and a series of Heartless and pirates had come down the stone stairs. They had spotted the ship and were now running towards it. Royally frustrated, Vincent slammed both fists onto the ship's control panel. Sparks formed around his hands and the craft hummed to life. With a few random beeps the engine started up, pulled forward and shot into the sky. The pirates pulled out their cutlasses and were shaking them angrily as the Seaduck II disappeared.

They had escaped. Vincent could hardly believe it. What he could believe however, was that he had no idea where he was going, or how to steer the ship.


	7. Sora's Return

Chapter Six Sora's Return

"You let them escape!" Sher Khan said in a quiet but stern voice.

"This stuff happens, you know," Don Carnage said defensively, "How was I supposed to know they had another Gummi Ship? I am the great Don Carnage, but I don't know everything,"

"This is _not_ what I mean and you know it," the tiger said coldly, he could feel his anger boiling just under the surface, "You had three chances to get the girl, but you bumbled it each time. Consider yourself fired and count yourself lucky I don't do worse,"

"You cannot fire Don Carnage! I quit!" the coyote air pirate said indignantly. He stomped away in a huff, leaving Sher Khan to fume alone, or at least he thought he was alone.

"Tch! I am really starting to think sharing Magic Kingdom with you was a stupid idea," a voice said mockingly.

"Negaduck, how nice to see you again," Sher Khan said insincerely, "But before you start thinking you'll be able to take my part of the Kingdom once the King is gone, I will kindly remind you that the man and girl had gone through Toon Town with less difficulty than they had flying. And up until his bumbling, everything was going exactly according to plan,"

"Humph! I had stuff to do. Besides, it was your job, not mine," Negaduck snarled.

"I am beginning to see M is right," a voice said coolly from the corridor.

"Did we ask for your opinion, Seymour?" Negaduck snapped back at the blue haired man in fine robes leaning in the door jamb.

"You two had been working together to take over the Magic Kingdom when M asked you to join our operation, and you both saw the value of what M was offering you: the chance to take over the universe. But you two have no chance if you squabble and trip each other up trying to take over that one puny world," Seymour said in his sing-songy tone, "You must not let your ego get in the way,"

"Well smart guy, if you know so much why don't you do something about it?" Negaduck stuck his tongue out at Seymour. Sher Khan glared intently, but the man seemed amused.

"This is actually why I am here. M has told me that since you can't seem to 'do any better than you accused me of doing' that I should attempt the next step," Seymour grinned evilly and tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes, "And M also told me to tell you to not bother coming back until you both can get your acts together, together,"

"Boy I really hate that guy…" Negaduck hissed when Seymour faded away.

"Finally something we can agree on," Sher Khan replied.

"You want me to do something about Toon Town, I'll do it!" Negaduck said straight to the tiger, "But this means you better work twice as hard on your place,"

"Agreed,"

Sora couldn't shake the feeling he had, and over several days felt that emotion get stronger and stronger. He wasn't the only one, both Riku and Kairi stopped paying attention in their classes and kept looking up to the sky, expecting something to happen. By the fourth day their other friends had noticed their weird behavior and Tidus, Wakka and Selphie confronted them about it.

"Jeez, you guys have been real zombies this last week," Tidus observed.

"Ya man, you guys have been checked out. What's up?" Wakka added.

"Because if you keep acting like this, you're totally going to fail this semester. Mid-terms are coming up soon!" Selphie added her two cents.

Sora, Kairi and Riku seemed completely oblivious. "GUYS!"

"Hmm, you say something?" Sora blinked back to life. Selphie sighed and the guys groaned.

"Oh forget it! What do we care? We're just you're **friends** after all…" Selphie huffed before the three left. Riku's glazed look disappeared.

"Maybe they're right. It has been a couple of days, maybe we're just a little stir crazy and just _hope_ something is going to happen," Riku wondered.

"That can't be," Sora shook his head fervently.

"But Sora, Riku's right. Nothing's happened, if we don't come back I don't think our friends are ever going to speak to us again, let alone what's going to happen to our grades," Kairi surrendered.

"Maybe…" Sora, Riku and Kairi got up from their place on the beach beneath the twilight and headed back to their dorms. Sora glanced one more time at the sky, hoping to see something. He paused when he thought he saw a light. Maybe it was just wishful thinking…. "Hey guys…"

Suddenly a bright lighted filled the sky above Alto Island and got brighter and brighter. Sora, Riku and Kairi shielded their eyes from the glare but didn't move a step. The bright light turned into a Gummi Ship and landed next to the three young adults. The hatch creaked open and two chipmunks and dog popped out. Sora could hardly believe what he saw.

"Goofy?"

"Hiya pal!" Goofy said happily, "Boy, look at how you've grown. Why you're an adult now!"

"What are you doing here?" Sora asked happily and ran over to hug his friend. For a long time Goofy was taller than Sora, and when he got older the two were the same height. But now he towered over his old friend.

"Sora, we need you. Kingdom Hearts has been unsealed and since you're the Keyblade Master and all I need to take you back to see King Mickey," Goofy explained. He turned to Riku and Kairi who were standing, not sure what to do, "Well come along you two, since you're Sora's friends you should come with us,"

"Right!" Riku said excitedly. He and Kairi jumped in after Goofy and Chip and Dale closed the hatch. Together they flew away from the islands and headed for Magic Kingdom. Unlike the world's earlier visitors, Sora and his friends ran into no problems when they landed on the grounds of the Castle. King Mickey, Queen Minnie and Daisy came out to greet them.

"Sora, it's good to see you again," Mickey said genuinely.

Sora jumped out of the ship and landed on one knee in front of the King, "I'm glad to see you too, sire,"

"Ha ha! Sora you don't need to be so formal! We're old friends," Mickey helped Sora to his feet and gave him a hug. He went to the ship and shook Kairi hand and hugged Riku as well, "I just we were able to see each other during more pleasant circumstances,"

"Why have you summoned us, sir?" Riku asked as he climbed out, "Goofy said something about Kingdom Hearts being unsealed again. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately Riku, it is," King Mickey said sadly.

"Well don't worry about it, King Mickey! We'll go and seal the keyholes and stop whoever is doing it!" Sora said confidently, "Who did unseal it, anyway?"

"The problem is we don't know," Queen Minnie added.

"The first two times the Heart was unsealed, we knew who did it, so we could help you stop them," Daisy explained, "Even if Goofy and Donald didn't know, King Mickey knew enough to be able to guide you. But this time we don't know who did it,"

"What?" Kairi gasped, "You mean we don't know what we're up against?"

"No," King Mickey sighed, "We have no idea who did it. Our only clue is a girl,"

"A girl?" all three friends said at once.

"Yesterday a man and a girl came here, they were the ones who warned me the Heart was unsealed. The good news is I don't think any of the worlds have gone missing yet," King Mickey explained.

"A man and a girl?" Sora repeated.

"Start with the keyhole to Magic Kingdom," the king ordered. Suddenly in front of the three weapons appeared. A keyblade and black sword materialized in front of Kairi and Riku. And before Sora appeared his keyblade, "We've had reports of Heartless in Cape Suzette,"

"Right!" Suddenly Sora looked around, "Hey, where's Donald?"

Goofy was the one to answer, "Hyuck, he's at work,"


	8. Showdown at Cape Suzette

Chapter Seven Showdown at Cape Suzette

Sora gave Goofy a confused look. They bid farewell to King Mickey and walked into Toon Town. The three people still didn't understand, but everything made sense once they stepped inside a restaurant.

Busily zipping between the tables, Donald was dressed as a waiter and serving food to people at a rapid pace. Sora glanced at Goofy, who smiling widely, "Donald owes some money to his uncle and has to work here to pay it off,"

In garbled swearing under his breath, Donald did not notice when Goofy, Sora, Riku and Kairi sat at a table. The duck wizard came over to the table and mindlessly handed the four menus and in a sad voice said, "Welcome to Scrooge's, how may I help you?"

"Hiya Donald!" Sora said brightly.

"WACK! Sora!" Donald jumped back in a flash of white feathers, and landed on a table behind him where a candle smoldered and set his tail feathers on fire. Suddenly smelling the smoke, Donald jumped up again, saw his burning tail and started running around the restaurant screaming. All the other waiters and patrons stopped what they were doing to stare. Suddenly from the kitchen an older duck with top hat and cane came furiously out of the kitchen.

"Donald!" he said in a thick Scottish accent, "What on earth are ya doin'?!"

Riku was the first to react, he grabbed an ice bucket and took out the bottle of wine. As Donald ran by him, Riku stuck out his foot to trip him, and poured the contents of the bucket over his head. His flaming tail sizzled and went out, but the duck was now sopping wet, "Eh he, Unca' Scrooge!"

Scrooge McDuck walked up to Sora and Riku, "I apologize for my nephew, please consider your meal complementary tonight," He turned to Donald and added, "You can consider their expense added to what ya owe meh,"

Donald groaned. Sora helped his wet friend to his feet, "You don't need to do that sir, it's my fault. I startled him when he saw me,"

"Are these people friends of yours?" Scrooge asked angrily.

"Well Unca Scrooge, Goofy is the head of the knights at the castle. And this is Kairi, Riku and Sora," Donald explained.

"Ach! The Keyblade Master!" he gasped, "It's an honor to meet you sir, I'm Scrooge McDuck, I own this restaurant and half of the businesses from here to Cape Suzette. If you need anythin' from meh, just ask,"

"Well, I do need something, sir," Sora explained, "We need Donald. His magic and flying skills are necessary for what I need to do,"

Scrooge paused and frowned, "Well, Donald here owes meh quite a bit of munny. He borrowed a loan to pay for a ship o' mine he crashed and he still owes meh over ten thousand. However, since you are the Keyblade Master and all, and it is somethin' probably very important I'll let Donald go with you, and suspend the interest I'm chargin' him until he comes back,"

"Thank you Unca Scrooge!" Donald said gratefully. He turned from his elderly uncle to Sora, "So what is going on? What are you doing here?"

"Kingdom Hearts has been unsealed. We need to seal each world again before they disappear. King Mickey has asked to start with the Keyhole of this world," Sora explained.

"Oh dear, that's not going to be easy," Donald frowned.

"It's never _easy_," Riku interrupted, "But what makes you so upset this time?"

"Since I'm a wizard of this world, I already know where the Keyhole of this world is. It's in Cape Suzette," Donald explained.

"So?" Riku added impatiently.

"Cape Suzette is all the way across the ocean, but it's been cut off from most people for four months by a bunch of Air Pirates. It's impossible to get past them," Goofy added.

Scrooge couldn't help but overhear, "Bah! Oh, it's possible all right, but only if you're willin' to pay that criminal Sher Khan!"

"Sher Khan?" Kairi, Riku and Sora asked together.

"He's a so-called 'business man' that came shortly after the Air Pirates started attacking people. He's been ruinin' my business! Because now nobody is buying anything from meh because he refuses to let my goods go through his transport service. Only reason I'm still here is because I've found a few pilots willin' to fly despite the danger," Scrooge said angrily, "Keyblade Master, if you can get rid of those air nuisances, I'll forgive Donald's debt,"

"Really?!" Donald said excitedly, "Let's go!"

"How will we fly to Cape Suzette?" Kairi asked.

"You all can borrow my plane and pilot," Scrooge suggested. The older duck took the group through the kitchen to his car out back. Waiting there was a duck in aviator gear with a stocky build and cleft chin. Next to him was a sharply dressed cricket.

"Jiminy!" Sora said happily.

"Hello, Sora! King Mickey has asked me to come along and keep records of everything. If we find something we might be able to figure out who is after Kingdom Hearts this time," Jiminy Cricket said.

Donald changed into his traveling clothing and Scrooge took them to the airport and ordered Launchpad to take Sora and his friends to Cape Suzette. Launchpad, however, was very reluctant, "Mr. McD, I trust you and everything, but flying out to Cape Suzette is really dangerous! Can't we pay someone else?"

Scrooge waved his cane around angrily, "I DIDN'T BECOME RICH BY PAYIN' OTHER PEOPLE FOR SOMETHIN' I HAD THE RESOURCES TO DO! And there is no way I am givin' one more red cent to that corrupt tiger!"

"I know you're angry about what's happening to McDuck Enterprises, Mr. McD, but that's not Sher Khan's fault. It's that awful Negaduck who keeps sabotaging our shipments!" Launchpad defended.

"Negaduck?" Sora asked again. Being away from Magic Kingdom had really left him out of the loop.

"Negaduck is a criminal mastermind that has been attacking Toon Town around the same time the Air Pirates attacked Cape Suzette. Personally I think he has more to do with the pirates than Sher Khan does. The police haven't been able to stop him, and even a bunch of superheroes have failed," Launchpad explained.

"I think they're all connected," Scrooge huffed, "But Launchpad, I don't pay you to be a coward. If you don't fly these people where they need to go, consider yourself fired. There is no need to be afraid, Sora is the Keyblade Master, he'll protect you,"

Launchpad sighed and invited the group onto the plane. Sora, Goofy and Donald strapped themselves in the front while Kairi and Riku sat in the back. Jiminy hopped into Sora's pocket and Scrooge waved goodbye to the group as they took off and disappeared onto the horizon. The stocky duck looked very nervous the entire flight, but they were not attacked. No longer able to hold his nerves, he steered the ship towards a small island with lots of planes docked and looked like a tree house.

With typical Launchpad fashion, he crashed the plane just outside the entrance to Louie's. Not familiar with his flying style, all his passengers were pretty shaken when they entered the bar. They were still jittery when they sat at their stools and Launchpad apologized, "Listen, I'm really sorry you guys, but those Air Pirates are really nasty. I just don't want to take the chance of a non-stop flight. We'll probably be okay once we head for Cape Suzette again, but let's just stay here for a little while,"

The group was not too upset. Sora patted the duck on the back, "Hey, we understand, everybody gets scared sometimes and you should never put yourself in danger if you can help it,"

After ordering their drinks from Louie, Sora got up to look around and was startled to see a familiar face laughing with some other pilots, "Cid?"

Cid looked up and just about fell out of his chair, "No way! Sora! I didn't recognize you. Look at you, you're a man now!"

Sora went to greet his friend who grabbed him by the neck and ruffled his hair, "What are you doing here?"

"I was doing a favor for a couple of friends," Cid explained and let go of his friend, "But since the Highwind got destroyed I've just been catching up with some old friends. Though I think I know what it means if you're here,"

"Yeah, Kingdom Hearts. Is Cloud or Leon here?" Sora asked.

"Nah, different friends," Cid shook his head, "You've never met Vinny. He ain't exactly the social type. But he had to get out of here with Matilda when the Heartless attacked,"

Riku, Donald and Goofy overheard the conversation and came over, "The Heartless were here already?"

"Yup, in this very bar," Cid nodded, "It was a nasty fight too, the Air Pirates came in here looking for Matilda and when wouldn't back down that jerk Don Carnage brought in the Heartless. But me and the boys gave him a run for his money!"

Sora suddenly remembered what King Mickey said about a man and a girl and wondered if they were the same people Cid was talking about. Riku asked a question, "What happened, where are the Heartless now?"

"That's the weird thing. When Vinny and Matilda left the Heartless disappeared. You should have seen the look on that pirate's face! It was like he had the wind knocked out of him… though it also could have been because I punched him in the gut," the older man laughed.

"If the Heartless were here we need to seal this world's Keyhole as soon as possible," Kairi interjected, "We should leave right away,"

"I'm sorry kids, my nerves are still shot, I'm not going anywhere," Launchpad said sheepishly, nursing his fruity drink.

Suddenly a big gray bear and smaller brown cub stood up, "If you guys need to get anywhere, you can count on Kit and me. Any friend of King Mickey and Cid is a friend of mine. I'm not scared of anything,"

"Really?" Sora said hopefully.

"You bet! I'm Baloo and this is my son Kit," the bear grabbed Sora's hand and shook it firmly.

"I'm Sora. And this is Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku," Sora introduced himself and his friends. They said goodbye to Cid and Launchpad and flew off with Baloo.

Once again the flight was very peaceful, they had not been attacked by anything or anyone and Baloo found it odd. Soon however the bright lights of the city of Cape Suzette were visible in the windshield. Donald brought himself to the front and studied the darkening landscape, "The Keyhole isn't actually _in_ Cape Suzette, it's just south of it on a small island. That small one that looks like a moose's head,"

Baloo suddenly realized why he felt weird, "No way pal, I'm not scared of pirates, but I'm not stupid either. That island you're talking about is Don Carnage's hideout!"

Donald shook his head, "There is no other way to get to the Keyhole. Listen bear-boy, you said you weren't scared or stupid, but right now you're being both. Sora, Goofy and I have fought Heartless in the past and from your description the ones you fought are the puny kind. If you've ever seen any of the Darkside Heartless, Black Beard the Pirate would seen like an elementary school teacher,"

"Fine, you have a point," Baloo sighed and looked for a place to land. He found a small grove of mangrove trees and quietly coasted the Seaduck to the hiding place. Sora jumped out of the plane and motioned to Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku to follow, but told Kit and Baloo to stay back. He argued that if he's come this far he wanted to be part of the action, but Sora was adamant.

When Sora pictured pirates, he had expected the kind he had seen in the past, like the ones from Barbossa and Captain Hook's ship. But the ones he saw now were amateurs compared to the ones he remembered. Most were asleep or eating, and none seemed very smart. Riku could barely contain his laughter, "These are the Air Pirates? Heck, we might be able to get to the Keyhole and seal it without them even knowing it,"

"You might be right, Riku, but we still should be careful," Kairi had a mild note of panic in her voice, fearing her friend was speaking too loudly.

"Nah, a bomb could explode and they'd never notice," a voice said from behind them.

"Baloo!" Sora hissed, "We told you to stay at the plane,"

"No offense buddy, but Keyblade Master or not, you're still a kid to me. These dweebs have been making my friends' lives miserable. You think I'm just going to stay behind and let you have all the fun?" Baloo defended himself, "Besides, I know more about them then you do. For example, the moron with the big nose with his boots on that weird rock is the one in charge, he's Don Carnage,"

"Oh no…" Donald grumbled, "That weird rock is where the Keyhole is,"

"So what's the plan, Sora?" Goofy asked expectantly.

"I have no idea…" Sora admitted.

"Well now aren't you glad old Baloo is here?" the pilot grinned, "You need Donny to get away from that thing right? Well he's only going to leave if he thinks he's under attack. Now I know there are only six of us and a heck of a lot of them, but if we have the proper kind of distraction they'll run like rats from a ship,"

"Right," Sora suddenly though up a plan, "Okay, Donald, go with Baloo, Goofy and Kairi. Riku, you're coming with me," He brought his friends in closer and explained his plan.

They were all giggling after Sora finished. Baloo grabbed some rope and went with Kairi and Goofy. Donald did some warm-up spells and Sora and Riku sneaked behind some rocks and hid near the Keyhole. The pirates were in various states of stupor when suddenly the cave filled with light. A shadow on the wall appeared and unearthly moaning was heard. A deep voice blared and all the pirates jumped up, "I am the ghost of Green Beard, the most dangerous pirate of the land!"

"Wh-what do you want?!" a pirate whimpered. The ghost was in fact Baloo dressed up with ropes draped like seaweed, with lights and effects done with Donald's magic and Kairi and Goofy adding the sound.

"I want my treasure cove back! And because you have come here! I will haunt you the rest of your days. Leave now or you will be doomed!" and for flourish Baloo added, "DOOMED!"

The pirates didn't hesitate to run out of the cavern screaming. Riku and Sora ran to the Keyhole rock. However, Don Carnage had not moved, "Sher Khan, I know this is your doing. The great Don Carnage is not that stupid!"

The pirate glanced around and spotted the two young men creeping towards him. Sora squeaked, "Uh-oh,"

"Intruders! You will pay!" Don Carnage pulled out his cutlass. Sora and Riku exchanged nervous glances.

"Don't worry, pal, I'll handle him," Riku winked and summoned his sword. Sora ran to the Keyhole rock and Riku jumped and ran to meet Don Carnage's challenge. Sora summoned the Keyblade and aimed it at the Keyhole, waiting for the beam of light that would show this world's heart would be sealed and protected. However, it did not appear.

"What's going on?!" Sora gasped.


	9. The World of Music

Chapter Eight The World of Music

Vincent didn't know how long the Gummi Ship had flown, but he guessed it probably wasn't more than a few hours. He was still trying to figure out how to fly the darn thing, and seemed to be getting nowhere. He had no idea where they were going, but the ship seemed intent on getting there. Matilda in the back seemed undisturbed, after all the action at Louie's she was now taking a nap. Vincent had no desire to wake her, no kid had to go through as much as she had gone through in just one day. Once again he was alone with his thoughts. There were times he had wished that the removal of his heart removed his mind as well, the constant monologue the Heartless had with himself always sounded the same, and never went anywhere. Though thoughts of Matilda's connection to Kingdom Hearts were beginning to infiltrate the other memories and criticisms he always surrounded himself with.

She was not a Heartless, though she had been attacked by dozens of the creatures. She had come out of no where and had no memories of who she was or where she came from. Then there was her strange appearance and the symbol on her chest. It looked exactly like the Keyholes that were in every world and the constant cold temperature he always felt whenever he was around her. He would go through with the King's mission, but was set on a mission of his own: to discover who, and what, she was.

Vincent's soliloquy was suddenly interrupted by the beeping of the Gummi Ship. Just beyond the windshield a world appeared within site. A soft noise came from the back seat. Matilda was slowly getting up and rubbing the sleep out of her strangely colored eyes. She peeked past Vincent's shoulder to see the world coming up ahead. One of the ship's monitors flashed the word 'Fantasia' over and over again, "What is this place, Vincent?"

"You don't recognize it?" Vincent asked.

The girl shook her head, "No I don't. I still don't remember _anything_,"

"Well, that doesn't mean anything—yet. According to the ship this place is called Fantasia. I think we're going to land there," Vincent observed as the ship began of series of beeps and got closer and closer to the world in front of them. The Seaduck II picked out a spot in the middle of a forest and landed itself gently. Cid had been right, the ship did fly itself, but Vincent would have still wanted to know how to tell it what to do.

The forest the Gummi landed in was quite dark and Vincent was cautious as he and Matilda exited the ship. To be on the safe side, the Heartless man pulled out his riffle. Even if he didn't sense Heartless, it didn't mean a world was safe. Matilda was wide-eyed as she looked around. There was life in the forest, the sounds of birds and other wildlife could be heard, but it didn't sound normal. Instead of the normal repetitive sounds a bird makes in its song, the birds of this forest sang in chords with a melody and harmony. "This place is so weird Vincent,"

"So nothing is familiar?" he asked.

"No, nothing yet," She shook her head. Vincent let out a grunt and shrugged.

After a few hours of walking, the two had not run into one intelligent being and the background noise of the strange birds and animals sank into a thoughtless murmur, feeling almost like silence. Vincent had not said anything in a very long time and Matilda was getting anxious and lonely, "Vincent," she paused, Vincent looked back to her, waiting to hear what she was going to say, "Do you like me?"

"Why d'ya ask?" Vincent said curtly, looking forward again to keep a watch out for danger.

"Well, you barely talk to me, and whenever you look at me you seem like you're mad at me," Matilda paused again, "And I know King Mickey put you on this mission and all, but if you don't like me I don't want to inconvenience you like this. You've already been put in all kinds of danger because of me,"

"That's not an easy question to answer. You have to understand, Matilda, I don't _like_ anyone. I'm a Heartless. I don't have any emotions except anger and hate so I divide how I feel about people in just two ways: people I hate and people I don't," Vincent explained, "And I don't hate you,"

The girl's mood brightened and she caught up to Vincent's pace, "I'm glad!"

They suddenly came to a clearing full of bright lights and flowers. The two paused to observe a strange view. On the other side of the clearing a group of mushrooms walked out. They shuffled into a circle and stared at Vincent and Matilda as much as the two of them were staring at the mushrooms.

"Are those Heartless?" Matilda blinked.

Vincent was just as confused as the girl was, "I don't think so…"

The mushrooms stopped staring at Vincent and the girl and went back to one and other. From out of no where a tune began to play and the mushrooms began dancing. The two's confusion only spread more. From the brightly colored flowers dozens of small fairies fluttered up, leaving trails of light behind them and danced in the air to the music of the mushrooms. A few of the fairies flew over to Matilda and landed on her hands and hair. She couldn't help giggling.

"It's almost like they recognize you," Vincent observed.

"Maybe I am from this world! But I still don't remember anything…" Matilda paused in deep thought. She glanced down to the fairies, "Excuse me, if you know me, could you tell me who I am?"

Suddenly the fairies flew off of Matilda and began zipping away. The ones that were dancing with the mushrooms stopped their light dance and followed the others. The girl only hesitated briefly before running after them. Caught off guard by her actions, Vincent called after her, "Matilda, wait!"

Vincent took off after the girl who somehow managed to gain a considerable lead. She disappeared briefly behind some trees, but Vincent followed. When he broke through the trees he was in a brightly-lit meadow near a river lined with olive trees. He had found Matilda, but she was looking into the sky with a horrified look on her face. Vincent stopped next to her and looked up at where she was staring. Some kind of fiery demon was chasing some flying horses. Two adults, one black and one white were trying to distract and fend off the demon that was circling a litter of small multicolored baby horses. They were squeaking and braying in fear, all except a little black and white one that despite its awkward flying, acted like it was trying to fight the demon.

Matilda turned to Vincent with tears and desperation on her face. She yanked on his arms sobbing, "Please Vincent, help them! That thing will kill them!"

Seeing the pain in her eyes, Vincent swung his ready gun under his arms and shot at the demon. The first two shots hit their mark, exploding on contact. The demon riled in pain and turned its attention to who injured it. With the distraction, the baby pegasi followed their parents and escaped. Vincent shoved Matilda to the ground when the fiery beast dove for him. He dodged and rolled and came up again shooting. He aimed for the eyes and blinded it. He popped open the chamber to eject the spent shells and inserted a new kind of bullet. With one last blast whose kickback sent the experienced marksman flying, the bullet hit the demon in the face, exploding. But unlike the other bullets, after the explosion a hissing wind coated the fire and froze instantly. The demon fell to the ground and shattered.

"That was remarkable!" a fluid voice sighed. Vincent whipped around to see a female centaur and a ghostly spirit riding a stag coming from behind a tree to approach him.

"Who are you?" the Heartless asked bluntly. Matilda shakily got up and walked over to Vincent.

"I am Atomia," the centaur curtsied gracefully.

"And I am The Spirit of Spring," the figure on the stag added, "But more importantly, you have destroyed the demon of Famine. He has been terrorizing us for months. How can we thank you?"

Vincent wasted no time, "This girl, we are looking for her world, do you recognize her?"

Both beings studied Matilda, "No, I'm afraid not. But if she is from this world there is somebody who would know her,"

"Can you take us to this person?" Vincent added.

"Yes, absolutely!" the centaur said admiringly. Vincent frowned and motioned over to Matilda to come, but she seemed distracted.

Once again she ran away. Vincent sighed and ran after her again. Just ahead of them the little black and white winged horse was neighing desperately, flapping its wings trying to gain altitude. It started to drop, running in place as though moving its legs would help remain airborne. Matilda positioned herself under the feisty little horse and caught it. The centaur and Spring caught up to them.

"Oh dear, it must have gotten separated from its parents during the fight," Atomia crossed her arms, "Such a pity,"

"Why?" Matilda asked innocently, looking over the exhausted animal that was now nuzzling her.

"Pegasi are like birds, if one of their young gets separated it's like they never had it. Even if the little fellow somehow catches up, his parents won't recognize him," the centaur sighed.

"Oh no! How terrible!" Matilda turned to Vincent, "Please Vincent, we've got to keep him!"

"No," Vincent said bluntly, "In the off chance you're not from this world we are not going to take a foreign animal from world to world,"

"But Vincent, you heard Atomia, his parents won't take him back now. He'll die without his family!" Matilda looked earnestly at Vincent. Vincent, of course, felt nothing. But though he had no heart, he did have a conscience.

"Okay fine, you can take him with us," Vincent surrendered.

"Vincent, thank you!" Matilda jumped on the Heartless and gave him a hug. The man grunted and sheepishly, the girl let go. She turned her attention to the horse in her arms, "You're such a little fighter, and you look just like me, part dark and part light. I'm going to call you Piff,"

Vincent and the girl followed Atomia and Spring through the world of Fantasia. Along the way they saw dozens of strange scenes over the landscape. And just past a pond of flamingos fighting over a yo-yo was a castle that looked like an amphitheater. The centaur and spirit lend them inside, where they were greeted by a guard. Atomia introduced them, "These are the warriors that destroyed the demon, Famine. They have come to speak with the queen,"

"The queen is in the middle of a ball, these people have not been invited, and they are not properly attired," the guard explained.

"The queen is always having a ball and she will want to greet the ones who destroyed the demon. She will become upset already that she was not the first ones to meet them. But if you deny her a chance to greet them socially before everybody else finds out, I think she will be _extremely_ upset," Spring replied.

"You do make sense, I for one do not want to see the queen upset," the guard pondered. He nodded and allowed the group past. The ball was made up of dozens of hippopotami in tutus dancing. The largest and most outlandishly dressed one, that Vincent assumed was the queen, spotted the group and stopped dancing.

"You have not been invited! I demand you leave at once!" she said in a deep and haughty voice.

Atomia seemed unalarmed. She curtsied politely to the queen and said, "My dearest queen, may you be the first to meet the champions who slayed the demon Famine,"

"The destroyers of Famine? And I'm the first to meet them!" the queen's tone immediately changed. And in a jump that seemed too graceful for an animal of her size leapt in front of Vincent and clapped her thick hands onto his shoulders, "And look at how handsome he is! Tell me, what are your names?"

Vincent forced a smile, "I am Vincent Valentine, and this girl is Matilda,"

"Vincent and Matilda. To thank you for your deed, tonight I shall hold a ball in your honor!" The Queen smiled widely.

"No, that really isn't necessary. All we would like in thanks is a small favor…" Vincent began.

"Pish posh! It will be no trouble at all, not for the destroyers of that horrible monster! He had been terrorizing us for four months!" the queen continued.

Vincent changed tactics slightly, trying hard not to offend her, "This girl, we've been calling her Matilda, but she doesn't remember her real name. Do you know her?"

The queen looked past Vincent to Matilda who was looking shy and clutching to Piff like a stuffed animal, "I'm sorry, Sir Vincent, I don't,"

"Then we really need to go—"

"There is someone I think you should meet since you're going to my ball tonight. And such a handsome man like you should come to a dance alone, it would be criminal," The queen ignored anything further Vincent had to say despite much protest and dragged him over to her throne. "Come along, Mistress Lulu, I think you should meet the hero,"

Vincent had not seen the woman at first when he entered the ball, it was hard to notice anything with all the hippos, but he now spotted a woman in a dark dress looking out one of the castle's windows. She turned around slightly to match eyes with the queen, before turning around completely and walking over to her. The woman was a pale lady with long dark colored hair pinned partially up with chopsticks, though still trailing on the floor. Her hair partially obscured her eyes, which were purple with yellow where the white usually was and matched her dark purple makeup. Her dress cut across the shoulder and a heart pendant was visible across her neck. And strangely in her arms was a teddy bear, "You wish something from me, my queen?"

"Yes, Lulu my dear. You won't be unescorted for tonight's ball. This is Sir Vincent," The queen shoved the Heartless in front of the woman. The woman had a severe, unfriendly look to her, and Vincent got a feeling from her he didn't like. But it was clear the queen was not going to let Matilda and him go until he went to this ball, and decided to play along—at least for the moment.

He offered his hand out to Lulu and she grabbed it. The bad feeling Vincent got grew stronger. There was something untrustworthy about her, but he also noticed she seemed as unenthusiastic about meeting him, as he her. In her low husky voice, she unemotionally said, "I am pleased to meet you, Mr. Vincent. And I very much look forward to you escorting me this evening,"

"Excellent!" The hippo queen said happily, "Ooo this is going to be wonderful! As soon as this afternoon's ball is over, I shall begin planning for this evening!"


	10. Mistress of Magic

Chapter Nine The Mistress of Magic

That evening Vincent, Matilda and Lulu all arrived for the queen's ball. Despite much persistence from the queen, Vincent was not convinced into changing his clothing. Matilda, however, was given a new dress and even Piff had a ribbon tied around his neck. Lulu met the two just outside the ballroom so she and Vincent could be introduced to the rest of the party. She wore a similar dress to the one she had on in the afternoon, except this one had fur trim, lace on the sleeves and the hem trailed on the ground, and like earlier, she was holding a teddy bear. And also like earlier, she seemed less than thrilled to be with Vincent. Hesitantly, Vincent offered his left arm out to Lulu, something the Heartless desperately did not want to do, as it could risk revealing his clawed hand. Lulu didn't look at him when she grabbed his arm and stared straight ahead as they were introduced, "Mistress Lulu, Master Vincent and Miss Matilda,"

They walked through and Vincent and Lulu tried to break away to head for opposite sides of the room but the queen stepped right up to them, "Well, don't you look lovely! Come on cheer up, this is a party and their playing the first song!"

The queen just about shoved the two older people in the middle of the dance floor. Matilda gave Vincent a confused look, and he indicated to her to wait by the food. Lulu put on hand on Vincent's shoulder and the grabbed the other, expecting Vincent to place his other hand on her waist. He didn't. He had no plans to reveal his deformed metal hand, but Lulu seemed relieved he wasn't going to put his hands on her. They avoided looking at each other as the music played, and Vincent couldn't help but notice that this song seemed entirely too long. Had the Heartless had the capacity to feel awkward, this would certainly be one of those moments.

Lulu finally broke the uncomfortable silence between them, "I am very sorry about this, the queen tends to get very carried away. I promise we can stop after the first song," Vincent nodded.

The song finally ended and everyone stopped dancing to applaud the orchestra. Vincent and Lulu headed over to Matilda by the food. They separated and stood on opposite sides of the confused teen. Lulu grabbed a glass of champagne and studied it, "I get the distinct feeling you don't like me."

"I don't trust you," Vincent said bluntly, "I can tell you're hiding something,"

"I feel the same way about you," Lulu said emotionlessly, "I wonder why that is?" Vincent just shrugged. Matilda felt extremely uncomfortable between the two grim adults and was not good at hiding it. Lulu sipped her drink and turned one of her intense purple eyes towards the girl, "You are not from here, are you?"

Matilda was shocked to have the woman talk to her. Lulu may have been cold and severe, but Matilda still found the lady elegant and beautiful and admired her, "N-no, it doesn't look like I am,"

"So you don't know?" Lulu suddenly seemed interested.

"N-no ma'am, I'm not sure where I'm from," Matilda looked at the floor, "I don't remember who I am…"

"You have no memory? None whatsoever?" Lulu's interest intensified and her tone became less curt.

"No, not yet. But Vincent is taking me from world to world-" Matilda began.

"You seem awfully interested in Matilda," Vincent interrupted.

"I'm just making conversation," Lulu returned her interest to her half empty drink and the tension once again returned. Suddenly the queen came over and tried to get Lulu to dance with Vincent again, but before she could force the two again, a window behind her broke.

Crashing in from several windows, a series of crocodiles with feathered caps and capes began grabbing the hippos and dancing. The orchestra began playing a more up-tempo tune from the waltzes they had been playing earlier. The hippos screamed and the queen tried to stop the whole event when suddenly a crocodile grabbed her and began dancing as well. The scene quickly turned very chaotic as dozens of crocodiles were spinning and throwing screaming hippos in tutus across the dance floor. Lulu seemed unconcerned.

"If you two want to get out of here, now is a good time," Lulu said nonchalantly.

Matilda seemed puzzled, "Shouldn't we help the queen?"

"The queen is fine. Truthfully she is in love with the crocodile prince, she is just too stubborn to admit it to him. She mostly holds all these balls in hopes he will crash it," Lulu explained.

"Let's go," Vincent said and began leaving. Matilda looked to the tall man and seeing he was serious, skipped out after him.

It was very dark in the gardens when the two got outside. Vincent barely gave any time to Matilda to change back into her other clothes. He kept increasing the pace and the poor girl had a hard time keeping up. Suddenly just as she caught up to him, he stopped dead and she crashed into the back of him, "Something wrong?"

"Heartless." Vincent said decisively. Some of the shadows of the statues and trees that littered the garden changed shape and crept over to the two. Soon they were surrounded by a hoard of the evil creatures. Matilda became scared and nudged closer to Vincent. The Heartless man whipped off his shotgun and began blasting away the monsters, but it seemed for every one Vincent had killed, three more seemed to take their place. The red caped man was furious that more weren't being destroyed, but seeing the danger, grabbed Matilda's hand and began running.

Vincent tried desperately to remember the way back to the forest where the Seaduck II was parked, but the dark was confusing him, and he could hear the Heartless grow closer. The two continued running, but found themselves trapped at the side of a mountain. Vincent shoved Matilda behind himself and continued shooting at the creatures in vain. He knew they were in danger, but he could not think of a way to get himself out of it. Suddenly a familiar husky feminine voice called out into the night, "Firaga!"

Dozens of the creatures erupted into flames and collapsed into piles of ash. Lulu was using the teddy bear as a weapon and repeated the various powerful words of magic, "Firaga! Blizzarga! Stoppaga! Graviga!"

The amount of Heartless significantly decreased but there were still many more left. Seeing his gun had little effect, Vincent replaced it on his back and began slashing through others with his metal claw. He found himself next to Lulu and the two began fighting together. With their combined power finally all the Heartless were destroyed. Panting, Vincent turned to his partner, "Not bad,"

"You weren't bad yourself," Lulu replied, she was laughing nervously.

"You're a Nobody," Vincent straightened himself out. Matilda ran over to the two adults.

"And you're a Heartless," Lulu replied matter-of-factly, "Now what?"

"At least I know now what you were hiding," It was a known fact that by nature Heartless and Nobodies hate one and other and Vincent finally figured out why he didn't trust the woman, "But I still wonder why you were following us,"

"I sensed the Heartless after you left the party and was worried about Matilda," Lulu explained, "It turns out we both have something in common. I am a Nobody, but I don't have any memories of what my real self was. I thought she might be a Nobody as well,"

"She's not," Vincent turned to Matilda, "Come on, let's go,"

"Wait!" Lulu called, "There was something else I wanted but I wasn't able to ask you with the queen there, I didn't want to insult her. You were too far away by the time I came out to the garden. I want to come with you, travel to other worlds,"

"Forget it,"

"I want to remember who I am. I was looking when I got stranded here. I've been trapped on this world for five years. If you can travel from world to world that means something is wrong with Kingdom Hearts, not to mention I've never seen a single Heartless in Fantasia until tonight. I can help you," Lulu was almost to the point of begging, "Listen, I'm a strong witch, I _can_ help. You saw it tonight. Just take me to one other world and I'll not bother you after that,"

Vincent was still skeptical, "You weren't honest with me, why should I trust you?"

"You weren't honest with me either. What did you expect me to say 'I'm Lulu and I'm a Nobody'? You didn't say you were a Heartless either, and you hid your hand the whole time," Lulu indicated the Heartless man's claw, "This is foolish to be enemies when it's so clear we're on the same side, we only don't like each other because of what we are. But I think it's clear to each other now that neither of us is evil, we should help each other. I bet you want your heart back just as much as I want to find my real self,"

Vincent frowned, she had a point. The only reason he didn't like her was because she was a Nobody, but Nobodies hate Heartless just as much as he does. And she was powerful, and even if she wanted a ride, she did seem concerned about Matilda. He looked at Matilda and saw the admiration of Lulu in her strange eyes. This girl trusted him and trusted this woman too, there had to be a reason, "Fine, you can hitch a ride with us to the next world,"

Lulu smiled, the first genuine smile she had in a long time. She helped Vincent and Matilda back to the forest where the Seaduck II was. Vincent opened the hatch and let the two young women in. Matilda buckled herself in and put Piff on her lap, while Lulu waited patiently for Vincent to fly the ship. The Heartless man had not figured out how to start it in the meantime. After a few minutes, Lulu decisively interrupted, "I know how to fly a Gummi Ship,"

"Great, then you can get us to the next world," Vincent was not reluctant to leave the frustrating duty of flying to the Nobody, he only hoped she was a better flyer than Cid. Lulu got into the pilot's seat and in a matter of moments had the ship on and hovering over the ground.

"So where are we going next?" Lulu asked.

"Vincent, I think I just remembered something!" the teen girl said suddenly. Vincent's eyes met with hers, she seemed exhilarated momentarily, "The Heartless, they reminded me of something. I was looking for somebody and I thought that if I allied myself with the darkness, I'd somehow manipulate it to my advantage. But it didn't work and that person used me and tried to get me to hurt people. Then somebody saved me. I remember the world, it had all kinds of ruins and a big arena there,"

Vincent recognized what Matilda was talking about. His friend Cloud had talked about a place like that. He turned to the Nobody woman and ordered, "We're going to Olympus Coliseum,"

Don Carnage may have been a buffoon, but there was no denying he was an excellent fighter. Riku was barely holding him back with his sword and found himself getting cornered to the back of the cave, "Hurry it up, Sora!"

"I'm trying! Something's wrong!" Sora kept swinging the weapon back and forth, hoping the beam of light locking the world would somehow appear. Baloo, Donald, Kairi and Goofy stopped their pirate ghost act and were running to help.

"Sora, what's going on?" Donald asked.

"The Keyhole won't seal. I keep trying and nothing's happening," Sora replied.

"Listen, if it's not working we've got to talk to King Mickey, we shouldn't stay here any longer," Goofy added.

"Yeah, the pirates will probably be back any second," Baloo continued.

"You're right, we do need to get out of here. But first we've got to help Riku," Sora stopped swinging the Keyblade but saw that Riku was in trouble.

Don Carnage had him in the back of the cave and Riku looked like he was getting tired. Sora motioned to come and join in the fight. Just when Don Carnage aimed to slice off Riku's head his parry was countered by a floral Keyblade. He next got slammed in the back by a giant shield and had his tail shocked by an electric spell. Baloo grabbed the Air Pirate by the back of his collar and Sora pointed the Keyblade at his neck.

"Took you long enough," Riku panted.

"I thought you could handle it," Sora laughed. Riku smiled. Sora then turned his attention back to Don Carnage, "Who do you work for? Who unlocked Kingdom Hearts?"

"Kingdom Hearts has been unlocked?" the pirate seemed genuinely surprised, "I'm not working for anybody…anymore,"

"Then why do you keep attacking the pilots? What were you doing with the Heartless?" Sora pressed, the pirate yelped.

"I was hired to attack the pilots to keep the people from Toon Town and Cape Suzette separated. I don't know why, but the money was good. My boss told me to also look for a girl with strangely colored hair and eyes and that the Heartless would listen to me as long as I worked for him. I shot the girl out of the air and tracked her down but she escaped with her brute bodyguard I was fired—er, I quit. And now I just do it get money. It takes a lot of money to keep up the great Don Carnage's lifestyle,"

"A girl?" Sora whispered. Once again he remembered what Cid and King Mickey had told him

"This yahoo doesn't know anything," Riku remarked, "He's just a pawn,"

Sora nodded, "You're right. Listen 'Donny', you're going to stop attacking the pilots, because if you don't we'll come after you again,"

"Fine, fine," Don Carnage sighed. Baloo dropped him unceremoniously on the ground and the pirate scampered to his red plane ship and took off. When they were sure he was really gone, everyone left the pirate cave.

Baloo flew the group back to Louie's to pick up Launchpad. Cid had told Sora not worry about him and so the party flew Toon Town where Donald's uncle forgave the debt, though he wasn't thrilled to hear about Launchpad's refusal to fly. After speaking with the older duck, they returned to the castle to speak with King Mickey. They told him all about the disappearing Heartless and the Keyblade's failure.

"So do you think something's wrong with the Keyblade?" Sora asked at the end of the story, "Did it somehow break, or did I lose my power?"

King Mickey shook his head and leaned back in his chair. They had all gathered in the library for privacy, "Nothing is wrong with the Keyblade, which is what worries me greatly, one of the many things actually. The reason the Keyblade didn't lock the Keyhole was only because the Keyhole wasn't unlocked in the first place,"

"So what does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"It means that there aren't Heartless in this world," the King replied.

"But Cid and everybody said they saw them," Riku added.

"I have no doubts he did, but from what it sounds like and the fact this world was never unsealed or disconnected the Heartless aren't here anymore. Which means they came looking for something specific, and aren't interested in destroying all the worlds," he finally explained. He seemed deeply troubled and barely paid attention when he petted Pluto.

"Cid said he came from Hollow Bastion with a girl and his friend 'Vinny' and that Don Carnage came after them with the Heartless, but they disappeared when Vinny and the girl got away. And then when we talked with the pirate he said he the person who hired him gave him command over the Heartless to find a strange looking girl in addition to attacking the pilots," Sora stated, "Are these people the same ones who told you about Kingdom Hearts?"

Mickey suddenly went from simply worried to genuinely frightened, "Oh no, I was right, she was connected to these events," Sora and the others gave Mickey a confused look, "You are correct, the people who warned me about Kingdom Hearts are the same people Cid told you about. I had told them to look for the girl's world because she had no memory and her memory might have a connection to these events. But it has come clear to me that I was correct, but not in a way I had realized. This girl doesn't seem to be just connected to the Heartless, it seems it is her the Heartless are after. Sora, I have a very important mission for you,"

Sora waited with baited breath, "Find Vincent and the girl, and make sure you protect them until she finds her world and her memories. And if you discover what world she is from and who she really is report back to me immediately. The fate of all worlds may very well rest on her shoulders,"

"Right!" Sora stood up suddenly, "We'll find her and protect her. You can count on us!"

"One question though: what world did she go to?" Riku asked.

"Truthfully I have no idea," the king laughed nervously. Everyone in the room sighed, "You'll just have to look from world to world and hope she hasn't gone too far ahead,"

Before leaving Riku, Sora and Kairi all received new battle gear and Chip and Dale escorted the five: Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku and Kairi to their Gummi Ship the Excalibur. Daisy, Minnie and the King all said goodbye before the ship launched. The Excalibur rose high above the castle and watched as the world of Magic Kingdom disappeared beneath them.

Sora was somewhat relieved to be put on a mission, given something that he could possible do to help. On the other hand he knew what he was about to face could be more dangerous than anything he had ever done before. He was just grateful he was once again with his friends, "So where should we go first?"

"How about Olympus Coliseum?" Goofy suggested.

"Great idea!" Sora agreed, "That's a perfect place to start!"


	11. Not Who They Expected

Chapter Ten Not Who They Expected

In a dark chasm with a greenish glow the moans of the dead could be heard just beyond the stone walls of great structure feebly attempting to resemble a palace. Sitting on an onyx throne silently fuming with a strange looking cocktail was a blue skinned man with flaming hair. His was angry. He was always angry. He wanted nothing more than to rule the world his deathly kingdom was located in, but one youth always stood in his way. The man was in fact the god Hades, and the constant thorn in his side was Hercules. Time after time Hades had attempted to destroy Hercules but a heart can only take so much failure and after years of trying himself and aligning himself with various allies and assassins he had given up.

Instead of coming with his next scheme Hades had resigned to just silently hating the cause of his frustration and drinking. Lots and lots of drinking. But it seemed all the water in the River Lethe couldn't help drown his sorrow, "It's a pity to see someone as mighty as a god sitting and sulking when he instead should be ruling the cosmos,"

A cool, eloquent singsong voice broke through the darkness. Hades suddenly sat straight up in his throne, "Hey, who's there? I specifically told Pain and Panic that I don't want to be bothered! Jeez, help these days… can't even depend on them to let you stew in your own misery…"

"I am sorry to have disturbed you great one," Hades was unsure if the voice was patronizing him or genuinely showing him respect. The god searched within the darkness to see the source of the voice. A man with long blue hair and elegant robes stepped out of the shadows and bowed respectfully in front of the god, "I, my lord, am Seymour Guado,"

"So what do you want, pretty boy?" Hades asked irritably.

"I know that you desire to rule this world. I have been asked by my associate to extend you an offer to join us. We are seeking out to use Kingdom Hearts to rule over this Universe," Seymour smiled charmingly.

"Oh no," Hades stood up and got in Seymour's face. The blue haired man did not back down, or stop smiling, "I'm not taking that road again. First Maleficent and then the Organization promise me Herc's head on a plate, and then pull the rug from under me. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me a third time and I begin to look like an idiot,"

"I respect your reluctance, but I assure you we are not attempting the same road as our predecessors,"

"Thanks, but no thanks," Hades turned his back to head to his throne and waved Seymour off.

The robed man sighed, "I had hoped we would not have to go this route, my lord…"

Lulu skillfully flew to Olympus Coliseum in a matter of hours and there were still a few hours of dark before the sun would come up. The Nobody woman landed the Gummi Ship next to the large arena and opened up the hatch. Matilda had been asleep for a long time and Lulu and Vincent decided to not wake her. Instead they got of the ship and scouted the area for danger.

"I don't need help on watch," Vincent said bluntly.

"You don't have to do everything yourself you know," Lulu snapped back matter-of-factly.

"Actually, that was my way of saying you should go get some sleep," Vincent explained.

"Oh. Then I apologize," Lulu said, but did not leave, "You don't need to worry about me, I've never slept much and I like the dark…"

"It gives you a chance to think," Vincent finished.

"Exactly,"

A moment of silence passed between them before Vincent shrugged, "Then if you want to look around with me, I won't stop you,"

They said nothing to each other as they searched around the coliseum but the tone between them changed. Though Vincent had agreed to let Lulu come along he not gotten over his feeling of mistrust for the woman and during the whole voyage had expected her to turn, to attack them sometime during the flight. But she had not, she had proved she was honest and Vincent began to see they had a lot in common. His hate for her disappeared, this woman could end up being a valuable ally and somehow he could feel she thought the same thing about him.

Seeing that fields around the arena were safe, Vincent's mood eased even further and finally allowed himself to feel tired. He returned to the Gummi Ship with Lulu and slumped his back against one of the sides. Lulu had observed his exhaustion and said, "I can take the first shift,"

"Thanks," Vincent relaxed his body and closed his eyes. He was too tired for his usual thoughts to bother him and he sank into a dreamless slumber. The next thing he remembered was the warmth of the sun brushing his face. It was morning.

Stiffly, the Heartless got up and looked around. From the position of the sun it looked to be about eight o'clock in the morning, he guessed he had slept for at least seven hours and saw that Lulu and Matilda were no where to be found. He heard familiar laughter up ahead.

Matilda was laughing at Piff as he tried to chase after Lulu's magic stuffed animal. They had gone off to the opposite side of the Greek arena from the ship. He could see on the ground a blanket spread out with food and plates spread on it, "Morning Vincent!" Matilda said happily.

"What's going on here? Why didn't you wake me?" Vincent said grimly.

Lulu's already small smile shrank slightly more and with her serious husky tone replied, "You looked like you could have used the rest and I told you I don't sleep much,"

"I'd appreciate if you wouldn't make decisions like that for me in the future," Vincent said. Matilda stopped laughing and grabbed Piff out of the air.

"I'm sorry," Lulu dipped her head politely, "If you're hungry I've made breakfast,"

Vincent turned to the food and hesitated momentarily. Matilda ran over to the man and grabbed a cinnamon roll off of a plate and bit into it, showing it back to the Heartless, "It's really good! Miss Lulu is a fantastic cook,"

Vincent plopped himself onto the blanket and began eating. As Matilda had said the food was very good, he only wished he could feel and express some kind of enthusiasm for it. Lulu glanced over and the Heartless grunted his appreciation for the meal. Wiping his mouth his the back of his glove he turned back to Matilda, "I wish I hadn't slept as long, we could have started searching and asking around a lot earlier if we had an earlier start,"

"I doubt it," Lulu remarked. Vincent's red eyes matched with her violet ones, "It's still fairly early in the morning. If we had gotten started any earlier I doubt we'd actually meet up with anybody. The only people we'd meet would be farmers,"

"There are fields around here, I suspect there would be farmers," Vincent commented. Matilda looked between the two nervously, she did not want them to fight again.

"True, but during my watch I had not seen anybody else," Lulu continued. Despite the seemingly angry tone developing between the two, there was be no danger of them arguing or fighting. To an outsider it may have seemed that way, but the Heartless and the Nobody understood enough of each other to realize neither was upset with the other, it was merely their abrasive personalities and jagged speech acting up.

Vincent got up and brushed himself off, "Then we should start looking around now,"

"I agree," Lulu waved her hand and caused the plates and blankets to disappear. Matilda exchanged a confused glance with Piff, she had no idea what had just happened.

The three people and one pegasus found the gates to the coliseum and were shocked to discover it was closed. "No wonder there weren't any people around, probably doesn't make sense for anybody to be here,"

Nailed to the chained gates was a wooden sign with written in Greek with English translations. It read, 'Closed for the summer season. Activities at the Coliseum will return this fall with the God Games,'

"It's a let down but I'm glad it's because of this and nothing else," Vincent admitted, but still couldn't mask his annoyance.

Matilda gave him a curious look, "What do you mean?"

"If people aren't here because they usually aren't, that means the Heartless didn't get to them," Vincent explained. Matilda understood and nodded solemnly.

"So what's our next move?" Lulu asked.

Vincent shrugged, "We start looking until we find somebody," Lulu nodded and started following the Heartless. Matilda hesitated a moment and looked back to the Coliseum wondering if something would suddenly change. She shuddered and ran after the two grim adults.

Back at the Coliseum a figure with blue fire hair stepped out of the shadows. He pulled off the wooden sign and melted the chains into a pool of iron. He pulled open the giant doors from which more shadows materialized. In the middle of the arena dozens of Heartless took form and looked to the blue skinned man. In a tone not like his usual cockiness Hades said, "What are you waiting for? You know what to do. Get the girl, I'll wait here to take out any 'competition',"

Flying from Magic Kingdom to Olympic Coliseum had taken longer than Sora or the others had expected, and it wasn't until mid afternoon of the next day that they arrive and land next to the great arena. Sora, Goofy and Donald leapt out of the Excalibur and noticed a second Gummi Ship. "Hey a Gummi Ship!"

"Well, this is a good sign!" Goofy chuckled, "This might be the ship this Vinny fellow and girl came in,"

Riku helped Kairi out of the ship and stretched out his muscles, "Man, that trip took forever. Any longer in there and I would have gotten stir crazy,"

"It would be wonderful if it would be this easy to find them," Kairi said happily.

"Oh, it's not going to be that easy," Riku grimaced, "The ship might be there, but they're not. And I don't know about you, but I don't remember the King saying what these people look like,"

"That's true," Sora frowned but quickly brightened up again, "But he did say the girl was strange looking. And Vinny is a friend of Cid, and if he's a friend of Cid he must be like his other friends. And he said something about Vinny not being very social. That's sounds just like Cloud or Leon. So all we have to do is look for a strange looking girl traveling with someone really heroic looking!"

"That's a great idea Sora," Goofy praised.

Sora began imagining what Cid's mysterious friend was like, "I bet this Vinny guy is some great swordmaster and saved lots of people back on Hollow Bastion,"

Riku laughed, "Sora, you are such a complete dork,"

Sora snapped back, "Hey, he's obviously got to be someone heroic. He fought to help save Kingdom Hearts and risked a lot to save that girl. You heard Cid, the Heartless were after him,"

"Maybe," Riku shrugged, "But we've still got to look for him,"

"Why don't Kairi and Goofy stay by the ships in case they come back and we'll go into the Coliseum and see if we can get Phil and Hercules to help up look, or at least tell us if they've seen them or not," Sora suggested.

"Right!" Kairi agreed. Riku nodded confidently and the two youths and duck headed over to the Coliseum gates.

Sora stepped out in front and pushed the gates open, not noticing the melted metal in front of it. He could see the arena was empty and looked like people hadn't been through in days or even weeks, "Hey Hercules! Phil! Are you guys here?"

There was no answer. Sora looked back to his friends. Riku shrugged and scratched his head and Donald looked concerned, "Odd, I wonder where in the world are those guys. Usually you can see Hercules training, or at least see some equipment around,"

"Do you think something happened to them?" Sora said worriedly.

"I don't think so, there don't seem to be any signs of a fight," Riku concluded, still looking skeptically around.

"Weird…" Sora remarked. Suddenly from beneath the bleachers of the stadium and almost every visible crevice a swarm of vicious looking Heartless came out at Sora and his friends. Caught off guard, the group barely had time to summon their weapons. Large black heartless with swords kept vanishing and reappearing. Tank-like piles of armor shot balls of fire and ice from their shields. Flying people with bat wings kept diving at the group and small red, blue and yellow beings shot various spells.

Riku used his sword to launch himself into the air slice at the flying Heartless and dodge the vanishing ones. Donald countered the spells of the magic using creatures and blasted back more powerful versions of fire, ice, lightning and gravity, but Sora seemed caught completely defenseless. The majority of the monsters seemed intent on destroying the Keyblade Master. Sora summoned the mighty Keyblade and attached the most powerful Keychain he had in his possession. Finally feeling powerful enough to fight back, the young man swung at the Heartless. The first wave of attacks ebbed as the creatures disappeared in 'poofs' of smoke.

Soon the Heartless were gone and the four warriors stood around panting. Sora leaned on his weapon and laughed nervously, "That was unexpected,"

He had spoken too soon as just then a second swarm of Heartless came raining down on the group. They had surrounded Sora and were keeping the others away. Caught completely by surprise the Keyblade Master had no time to react. A blob-like creature knocked the weapon out of his hands and a second monster knocked him to the ground and a group of Heartless were poised to attack.

"Sora!" Riku and Donald shouted in vain as they tried to reach their endangered friend. Sora closed his eyes and braced for the attack, but instead of being harmed by the beasts he suddenly heard a set of pops filling the air. Shocked, Sora opened his eyes and found the Heartless exploding one by one and glanced back to his friends who stood looking as dumbfounded as he was. Sora scrambled to regain the Keyblade and finished off the remaining monsters. He turned around and saw in the bleachers a figure holding a gun with a stream of smoke wafting gently out of the end.

Sora's eyes met with the sinister looking man with blood red eyes and jet black hair flapping slightly around his face under his headband. The man did not put down his weapon and there was a cold, merciless look in his eyes, "You must be the Keyblade Master. I'm disappointed. I was expecting someone more powerful, you're just a kid,"

"What do you want?!" Sora snapped back annoyed to be so disrespected.

The devious looking man's cape moved gently in the light breeze, revealing a familiar mark over his chest. Donald spoke up suddenly, "Sora, be careful! That being is a Heartless!"

Sora didn't need to be told twice. He ran up to where the red caped figure was standing and swung the Keyblade. Deftly, the man dodged the blade and jumped to the side. Sora turned again and tried to once again hit the man. Once again the man avoided the attack. Sora paused and analyzed the situation. He jumped up and kicked at the man. The man grabbed Sora's leg and threw him to the side. Horrified, Riku and Donald joined the fight, attempting to destroy whom they viewed the enemy.

Up until this moment, the being seemed to be calculating and indifferent, merely dodging and avoiding Sora, but now he was clearly angered and in a deep growl said, "Oh, so you want to play it that way?"

The man flipped the gun onto his black and flicked his cape aside, revealing a golden metallic claw in place of a hand and began diving at the four other fighters. The battle was intense. Though it was four against one, the Heartless was not going to be an easy victory. Not only was he powerful physically, he was clearly an experienced fighter and avoided the majority of the blows thrown at him. But after a while he appeared to grow tired and being outnumbered was finally being overcome. In a last ditch effort, he jumped from the bleachers and landed on the arena, but misjudging his exhaustion, fell backwards. Seeing his opportunity, Sora jumped after him and prepared to strike him a final time. When from out of no where a female voice called out, "No, please stop! Please don't hurt Vincent!"

A girl with black and white hair in a pink dress was running ahead of Kairi, Goofy and a woman in a long dark dress. Sora paused and stared at her when something suddenly clicked, "Vincent? Wait a second, _you're_ Vinny?"

Panting heavily, the man on the ground shoved the Keyblade away from his throat and forced himself to sit up, "Vincent, I like to be called Vincent. Only that idiot Cid calls me Vinny, I hate it,"


	12. The Masters of the Dead

Chapter Eleven The Masters of the Dead

Sora was stunned and still didn't put away his Keyblade. Donald, Goofy and Riku ran down to where Kairi and the stranger women were standing. "You're Cid's friend? The one from Hollow Bastion? The one who came to warn about Kingdom Hearts? You're the one sent by King Mickey? You're the hero?!"

"Yeah, my name is Vincent Valentine and I'm from Hollow Bastion," Vincent finally forced himself to stand, he towered over the shocked Keyblade Master.

"B-but you're a Heartless!" Sora squawked.

"Yeah, I am. And I'm on your side you ungrateful idiot," Vincent snapped coldly, "I saved your life from those Heartless and you attack me,"

"We were looking for people when we were suddenly attacked by Heartless. We noticed that they were coming from the coliseum and that's when we saw your Gummi Ship land and saw you go into the closed arena. Vincent thought that you might be in danger and forced the Heartless back to the coliseum in case you needed help. Matilda and I made sure that this young woman wasn't being attacked," the dark woman said huskily, indicating Kairi.

Sora suddenly felt completely and utterly embarrassed, "I-I'm sorry. You were standing there with that gun and you called me weak… and then Donald said you were a Heartless and then you threw me,"

"What did you expect me to do, stand there and let you attack me?" Vincent replied bluntly, "And you are weak. There were four of you and you let the Heartless nearly overwhelmed you," Sora's face was beet red.

Suddenly Matilda jumped onto the embarrassed young man. "Sora! I can't believe it, you kept you're promise! You said you'd come back to me and you did!" Matilda seemed genuinely thrilled. Sora seemed confused and Kairi looked concerned.

"Er… I'm sorry but I don't know you," Sora carefully dislodged the girl from his neck. King Mickey was right she was strange looking. From a distance he could see her black and white hair, now up close he could see her red and blue eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Matilda seemed shocked, "You're right, we've never met! But a moment ago I could have sworn that a long time ago we were separated and you promised you'd come back. How strange…"

"Can someone explain what's going on?" Riku interrupted suddenly, "Because I hate to bring this up but this guy is a Heartless and that woman over there is clearly a Nobody,"

"Fine, you want to hear what's going on I'll tell you. My name is Vincent, we're calling the girl Matilda and King Mickey sent me on a mission to find this girl's real home. This woman is Lulu, and yes she is a Nobody but she's been looking for her Somebody and has been helping me with Matilda," Vincent summarized.

"You're telling me that King Mickey trusted a Heartless and Nobody with a mission that could affect Kingdom Hearts?!" Riku seemed unconvinced.

"Not all Nobody's are bad…" Kairi said earnestly.

"Yeah maybe, but I still haven't met a Heartless that isn't," Riku reminded.

"Believe what you want, what you think of me doesn't affect what I need to do," Vincent shrugged. He grabbed Matilda's hand, "C'mon, we have to fulfill the mission,"

"Wait!" Sora called to Vincent and turned back to Riku, "He did kill all those Heartless, remember? He can't be all bad. So you're really Cid's friend?"

"Yes, as much as he annoys me, Cid is my friend. So is Cloud and Leon and Yuffie and Aeris," Vincent stated.

"And you were the one to tell King Mickey about Kingdom Hearts?"

"Yes, being a Heartless I am able to sense other Heartless. I found some in Hollow Bastion and Cloud entrusted me with helping Matilda and seeing King Mickey," Vincent stated. He once again turned to Matilda and gently ushered her, "We've wasted enough time, we need to get going,"

"Hold on," Sora called again.

"Aren't you supposed to be sealing the Keyholes? I'm not interfering with your job," Vincent sighed.

"That's the thing. None of the Keyholes appear to be unsealed, the Heartless seem to be following you," Riku added, still suspicious of Vincent.

"What are you talking about?" Vincent asked.

"The Heartless from Magic Kingdom disappeared when you left," Sora explained.

"Wait a moment, I just realized something. I've never seen Heartless in Fantasia until the day you and Matilda came," Lulu said to Vincent.

"I'm sorry, are you accusing me of somehow of bringing the Heartless?" Vincent's rage suddenly came back, "I am not going to stand here and be blamed for what's happening! Yeah, I'm a Heartless but I hate the Heartless more than anything else in this life and would not align myself with them under _any_ circumstances,"

"No! That's not it at all! You aren't the cause of the Heartless, Vincent, the Heartless are after Matilda," Sora explained. Lulu looked shocked and both she and Vincent looked to the girl who seemed just as surprised as anyone, "That's why we're here. King Mickey asked us to help you find Matilda's real home,"

"I appreciate the King's concern but I don't need your help," Vincent put bluntly.

Lulu suddenly spoke up, "I just realized something, why were you in the Coliseum in the first place?"

"What do you mean?" Donald asked.

"Well, we came by here earlier in the day and there was a sign saying that the arena was closed for the season the gates were all chained up," Lulu explained.

"There was nothing like that when we came," Goofy said.

"I don't like this at all. It sounds like this was somehow—" the shrill neighing of Piff frantically fluttering around suddenly interrupted Vincent. From one of the contender entrances a blue skinned man with flaming hair and smoke-like legs entered the arena, "A trap…"

"Hades!" Sora growled, getting his Keyblade ready. Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy followed suit. Vincent and Lulu didn't move and waited to see what would happen.

"The Heartless are so useless, give them one simple task and they blow it. I suppose if you want something done you need to do it yourself," the god said in a hollow voice.

"So you're behind the Heartless, we should have known," Sora snarled, "The joke's on you, pal, Hercules isn't here!"

"I'm not here for him," in a trance-like form Hades raised one arm and pointed it at Matilda, "I'm here for her,"

While Sora and his friends were caught in shock, Hades lunged at Matilda. The girl shrieked and stepped back but unlike the others, Vincent and Lulu had not paused. Lulu placed herself in front of the teen girl and Vincent caught Hades by his arms and was face to face with the god, not backing down. His emotionless blood eyes were flaring red with anger.

"I'm impressed. You didn't even hesitate, and you don't look scared," Hades said monotonely. Suddenly his body erupted into flames and sent the Heartless man flying backwards. Vincent slammed against the stone wall of the Coliseum leaving a crack and pile of rubble, but the caped being came back fighting, his riffle cocked and ready to fire. In Hades' concentration on only Vincent, Sora, Donald and Goofy attacked the god of death. In the last second Hades turned around and countered Sora and Goofy. Donald cast off of a spell and Riku and Kairi struck the god in various places in his body but with a terrifying blast Hades sent all his attackers back like he had Vincent.

Though the rest were down Vincent had more than recovered and was now running along the line of the bleachers firing at the god. Though all the shots hit and exploded on Hades, they seemed to be doing little if any damage. Vincent went to switch out his cartridges when the lord of the dead flew up to him and knocked him off the bleachers, sending him hurtling to the ground, "Aero!"

Vincent fluttered gently to the ground instead of hitting like a rock. Lulu had used one her spells to help him and concentrated her next line of attacks on Hades. With grim determination she called out the words of magic, "Blizzarga! Graviga! Blizzarga! Thundaga!"

Each attack hit the god directly and seemed to weaken him. But after a moment of recovery the evil being sent a blast hurdling at Lulu. She tried to bring up a shield in the last second but her timing failed her, but rather than being hit by the blast, she was dragged out of the way by Vincent. Lulu ran nodded her appreciation to the Heartless and ran over to a new position. Sora, Vincent, Donald, Lulu, Riku, Goofy and Kairi kept sending attacks at Hades but even if their attacks were successful, they seemed to have little to no impact and his blasts sent the warriors flying.

"Is it just me, or has Hades gotten stronger since last time?" Sora panted.

"That's not the only thing that's different. Hades is a smug jerk, but he's been really quiet during this battle," Donald observed.

"I don't care if he normally wears a pink tutu and tights," Vincent snarled, "He's not going to beat us, and he's not going to get Matilda! We need to combine our attacks, one last blast, all or nothing,"

Sora nodded, "You're right!" Sora motioned to his friends as they continued to dodge Hades. He counted down three…two...one! All at once the warriors sent their blast in the direction of the god and in flash on energy, Hades was knocked off his feet, and did not get up. "We did it!"

"Such a shame," a singsong voice came from the bleachers. The group turned around to see a man with blue hair and elegant robes sitting nonchalantly watching the battle.

"Who are you?" Sora shouted.

The man got up and bowed low, "Hello Keyblade Master, I am honored to meet you. I am Seymour Guado," Seymour turned to Vincent, "How noble of you to try to help the girl find her home and memories. Let me save you a little time and give you a hint: she's not from here,"

"What do you know?!" Vincent snarled.

"I know everything about the girl," Seymour smiled cheerfully before giving a cryptic statement, "I know who and what she really is,"

"You know who I am?" Matilda said excitedly running in front of Vincent and Lulu. Vincent grasped her by the shoulder and pulled her back slightly, "Can you please tell me?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not," Seymour sighed.

"Then why should we believe anything you have to say?" Vincent growled. He didn't know who this smug man was, but everything in his body said not to trust him.

"Because my associates and I have been after her for a while now," Seymour's charming grin suddenly turned very devious.

"You're after Matilda?" Sora gasped, "You mean Hades was helping you?!"

Seymour patronizingly frowned, "He showed such potential, if only he agreed to help me on his own accord. He would probably be in much better shape now,"

"You mean Hades wasn't doing this on his own?" Sora was shocked and looked back to the still out cold death god.

"No, sadly my lord didn't have to ability to see the grand opportunity my associates and I were offering him. I had asked the lord Hades to help me with my plan, but sadly he refused so I'm afraid I had to take control over his body," Seymour waved off the comment as though what he said was nothing major. Sora exchanged shocked looks with his friends and they were all thinking the same thing: this man had somehow taken control over a _god_.

"How, how could you take control of someone as powerful as Hades?!" Lulu gasped.

"I am a Master of the Dead," Seymour explained simply, "Now that we all know who most of us are I'm going to have to ask you to turn the girl over to me,"

"What! No Way!" Riku blurted, "You're the bad guy!"

"I so wish we didn't have to go through this, this is why I got Hades in the first place," Seymour seemed more inconvenienced than angry and despite his long robes he jumped up and landed a few yards away from Sora and the others. He made some strange motions with his arms and a symbol appeared on the ground beneath him. Suddenly a giant zombie looking Heartless burst through the ground.


	13. M

Chapter Twelve M

"I'll give you one last chance," Seymour said, his tone still annoyingly sing-songy, "Hand over the girl to me, and I shall spare your lives,"

Though the hideous looking Heartless seemed especially powerful and dangerous, nobody moved. Sora sneered, "What part of 'no way' didn't you understand?"

Seymour sighed and motioned to the Heartless, "Fine. Anima, get rid of them,"

The zombie Heartless dove for the fighters, and though exhausted from their earlier fights everyone managed to get out of the way. But running out of strength and energy, all involved realized it would be a difficult fight. Kairi grabbed Matilda's hand and took charge of protecting her. Though Seymour seemed intent on getting her, at the moment he seemed more interested in destroying the fighters and acted as though he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Sora, what's the plan?" Goofy yelled before dodging a nasty looking violet stream of light the Heartless was emitting from its mouth.

"I-I don't know!" Sora stuttered when he suddenly fell backwards. He had tripped over the unmoving body of Hades. Sora scuttled away from the fallen god when he started moving.

"Oh…what happened?" Hades moaned and picked himself up, "Jeez, if I didn't know any better I'd say I went mortal for a moment," The god's eyes matched with the startled Keyblade Master, "Whoa, what are you doin' here squirt? I've given up on attacking Jerkules,"

Instead of answering Sora dove out of the way of one of Anima's attacks. The attack hit Hades directly, though surprised, the god seemed unaffected. He turned to see where the attack had come from and spotted Seymour, happily sitting once again in the bleachers, "Hello my Lord, you are looking well,"

"Pretty boy! Oh now I remember!" Hades seemed especially enraged. Using his fire powers he launched himself like a rocket and landed in front of the powerful blue haired young man. Seymour seemed unimpressed.

"I take it you haven't reconsidered my offer," Seymour acted as though this were a social occasion.

"You can't be serious! Pretty Boy, I am going to send you down to my world!" Hades formed a fireball in his hands and prepared to throw it at Seymour.

Without loosing his smile Seymour motioned his arms and sent the god flying backwards, crashing into Riku and Donald who had been fighting below, "Do you see the mistake you made, my dear lord? This power I possess could have been yours as well. Our powers both come from the power of death, and had you aligned yourself with M and my other associates this world could have only been the beginning!"

"M? Who's M?" Vincent barked before launching a shot at the Heartless Anima.

"Back on my own world I was one of the selected leaders, my lowly role was as a religious figure. No real power, only helping grieving widows and children who lost pets, my talents were being squandered when it was clear I could accomplish so much more. Then M said if I helped it with its plan with Kingdom Hearts I would not only take over as many worlds as my heart desired, I would stop being a servant of death, I would be its Master! I have powers I couldn't even dream of, and we haven't even succeeded yet!" Seymour sneered. He motioned for Anima to attack again.

"Oh no, listen buddy," Hades snarled, "The only master of death around here is me. It ain't pretty, it ain't cheerful, but nobody is going to take away the only real power I have! You are going to pay for what you tried to do to me Pretty Boy!"

The god snapped his fingers and the ground of the coliseum began to rumble and crack. The fighters who had been facing Anima ran to respective corners to get out of the way of the new danger. From the great chasm in the ground a large gray-purple snake with clawed feet appeared. Hades motioned to the creature to attack the Heartless. Seymour laughed, "You think that pitiful garter snake is any match against Anima? He is the strongest Heartless to ever come out of the darkness!"

As though to demonstrate Seymour's point with one swipe of its chained claws Anima took the Hydra's head clean off. Sora and the others exchanged worried looks and prepared to face Anima on their own again. Suddenly the decapitated body of Hades' monster began wriggling and from its body three new heads erupted. Hades grinned with pointed teeth. Seymour seemed slightly less sure of himself. The now three-headed Hydra launched itself back at Anima. The fight between the two was intense and each time the Heartless tried to remove one of the monster's heads, three more grew back.

"Anima, you fool! Stop going after its heads!" Seymour was quickly losing his eloquent attitude. Soon the Hydra had hundreds of heads and within moments, had torn the Heartless apart. Satisfied with its prey, the Hydra turned from the wispy remains of the Heartless and both it and Hades were staring devilishly at Seymour. All traces of a smile had vanished from his face, "I commend you my lord, I must admit I underestimated you. So now I think now is the time to part ways,"

"Oh you think you can just run away now?" Hades smirked, "We were just beginning to have fun,"

Seymour arched his arms one last time before turning to Sora and the others, "The battle is over for today Keyblade Master, but I shall return for the girl. And when I get her, Lord Hades, me controlling you will have been the least of your problems with me,"

With that statement Seymour vanished into thin air. Sora and the others cheered that the battle was over and innocently Sora remarked, "I can't believe it! Hades helped us this time!"

"I might not remember what happened when Pretty Boy was using me like a puppet, but I definitely know that you dweebs attacked me. I'm not so happy about that," Hades turned his attention to the group, "Tell yah what: you can make it up to me by dying,"

Hades directed the Hydra to now attack them. Riku gave Sora a dirty look before the entire group prepared for yet another exhausting battle. However, before any of them could react, Vincent charged forward with his gun and aiming only at the snake monster's body launched a series of shotgun blasts into its body. He grabbed Matilda's hand and stated, "We've got about fifteen seconds to get out of here. Now would be a good time to run,"

Sora hesitated, but realized now was not a good time for second-guessing. Motioning to the others Kairi, Lulu, Donald, Goofy and Riku ran out after him. Hades looked confused, "You cowards all of a sudden? Where do you think you're going?"

The answer came a few seconds after the last person was safely out of the Coliseum. A sudden boom filled the air behind them; a column of fire went up into the sky and little charred bits of what was formerly the Hydra floated around the group. Sora laughed nervously, "Do you think Hercules is going to be really mad at us for blowing up the Coliseum?"

"Hercules will probably be grateful, but Phil will have a fit," Riku joined in the nervous laughter before changing his tone, "But that was really close back there,"

"At least we now know who unsealed Kingdom Hearts," Sora said seriously, "This person 'M'. We should go back to Magic Kingdom immediately and tell King Mickey,"

"I agree," Donald and Goofy said. Vincent said nothing as he lead Matilda to the Seaduck II.

"Hey Vincent, where are you going?" Sora called to the Heartless man.

"This isn't Matilda's world," Vincent said simply.

"But we're supposed to help you!" Kairi added.

"I said before I don't need your help," Vincent repeated.

"You really saved our butts back there," Sora began, "You might not need our help, but we really need yours. We're both after the same thing: finding out who Matilda really is and why M and all these villains are after her,"

Vincent said nothing at first, but then turned to Matilda who was looking hopefully at Vincent, clinging to Piff like if the animal were a toy. She seemed so gentle and so innocent yet so many horrible things were after her. If only for her sake, she deserved as much protection as possible. Vincent found it curious that even though he didn't have a heart, he still somehow managed to let his pride get in the way, "Fine, you're right. Besides maybe if we tell the King what we learned we can get a clue from where she's from,"

Finally agreeing the group split up to go to their Gummi Ships, everyone except Lulu. She stood behind the others, not approaching the ships and looking downcast.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Vincent asked impatiently.

"Our deal was that you were just going to go to one world…" Lulu said matter-of-factly.

"It looks like your Somebody isn't here. It doesn't do you any good to stay. It might be another five years until you get another ride," Vincent explained.

"You mean that?" Lulu seemed suspicious.

"Yeah, I mean it. Not to mention you're the only person who can fly Cid's stupid ship," Lulu smiled briefly before stepping ahead of the Heartless and sitting in the pilot's seat. In a near synchronized movement the two ships headed back to Magic Kingdom

When Seymour arrived back the other villains had been waiting for him, and none of them seemed very happy. None, except Sher Khan, who was wearing a deeply satisfied smile. The horned man in red was drumming his fingers irritably on the wooden table and glaring at the blue haired man, "You failed Seymour, you let the girl get away,"

Though Seymour had been shaken by his battle he was quickly regaining his composure but still seemed angry, "I admit, I underestimated Hades. Had that fool been properly defeated by the Keyblade Master the girl would be with me right now,"

"Not as easy as it seems, is it Seymour?" Sher Khan said smugly, "Not easy to get good help these days, even gods,"

"I didn't need help, I was forced to use it because I don't yet have the power myself. None of this would have happened if M got that stupid girl in the first place," Seymour said defensively, "And at least I came a lot closer than you had, Sher Khan,"

"That's enough," M's hollow strange voice broke through the darkness as the mysterious being stepped into the chamber, "As I've said before we must work together to get done our objective. I expected you to fail. These first few times were just trials to get you to realize this will not be a simple task. No harm, no foul. Now that we're done trying to one up one and other, trying to prove who is superior, hopefully we can start the real work. We now have a better understanding of what we are dealing with. The Keyblade Master is someone we must be cautious of, even if he is a mere boy still he holds the power to defeat strong opponents. His friends, if not of equal strength could potentially be obstacles. Both can be overcome if merely separate them from the girl. There is one thing that still concerns me however,"

"That man," Seymour nodded. The other villains muttered skeptically.

"Yes, the Heartless man. He is a strong warrior and fearless and if he continues to guide the Keyblade Master and protect the girl I don't see any real way for us to succeed," M stated.

The red-robed man stamped his fist on the table, "He is but one man and what we've observed of him, he is very flawed. We should be able to get rid of him easily. Quit acting so timidly M or I shall start making decisions for you!"

"Your view of yourself will be your downfall, Horned King. As I have said before I do not need to prove or disprove my powers or image. I do what I need to do in order to accomplish what I want. Those who have thought they could do better have tried and failed already. If you feel we must fail once more trying the exact same thing, risking a permanent failure, I suggest you leave," M's glimmering eyes matched with the king's glowing ones. The king merely snarled but did not move, "We must change tactics if we are to succeed. This man, Vincent Valentine, is not one to be underestimated. He is a Heartless, but we have no power over him, nothing appears to. He has his own free will,"

"We know Vincent, he used to be one of us," one of the four people previously ignoring all the actions of the other villains spoke up, "He used to be a Turk. Just like us,"

"I care to hear more, Rude," M ordered.

"We all have the same training, we know how he works," a lady said.

"Elena, are you telling me you'd be willing to sell out a former friend?" M asked curiously.

"We never really liked him much anyway, always so serious, could never take a joke," a man with long red hair stated, "And the price is right. Besides, it's not like we haven't done it before…"

"Good, take out Vincent and then we can focus on the Keyblade Master and eventually get the girl," M said matter-of-factly. The four people got up and stepped out. There was still an angry mood in the room when M stepped out. Seymour looked around and noticed one of the villains was missing.

"Where's Negaduck?" Seymour asked.

"He's at Magic Kingdom, still trying to prove he belongs with us," Sher Khan explained, examining his claws drolly.


	14. The King's Ultimatum

Chapter Thirteen The King's Ultimatum

Word traveled through the castle quickly that Sora and the others had returned to Magic Kingdom and King Mickey ordered to greet them in the dining hall. The young man and his friends were completely exhausted. It seemed like days since they had slept and were completely drained from back to back battles. It was no large surprise that when they were seated at the table that many of them collapsed in their chairs. Even the stoic emotionless Vincent and stern Lulu couldn't hide their fatigue. King Mickey was sympathetic and waited for them to eat and rest some before asking them questions, "Since all of you are back and Matilda is here, I assume you still haven't discovered her home, nor has she remembered anything,"

"Well, that's not completely true," Sora admitted, "It looks like she remembers me, but I've never met her before. I know Castle Oblivion really messed up a lot of stuff, but I think I'd remember her,"

"So then why have you returned?" Mickey asked curiously.

"The good news is we know who unsealed Kingdom Hearts," Riku continued, seeing Sora was about to collapse into his mashed potatoes, "It is some person who calls him or herself 'M'. This person, whoever he or she is, is the one controlling the Heartless, and is the one all the other villains are taking orders from,"

"M…M…" Mickey leaned back in his chair and pondered the name, "I feel like I should know who that is for some reason, but nothing is coming up,"

Sora, Riku and Kairi sighed. Donald and Goofy tried to comfort them, "Don't feel bad you guys, even if I don't know who this 'M' is but now we have something to work off of. You can continue searching for who Matilda is, and I'll see what I can find out about this person. Of course, you probably should get some rest first,"

The group excused themselves gratefully and headed to their rooms. Though everyone was dead on their feet, Matilda seemed more upset than tired. Vincent was about to go to bed when her small voice came from behind him, "I'm sorry for all of this Vincent,"

The Heartless turned around and gave the girl an indifferent look, "What do you have be sorry about?"

"This is all my fault! All those monsters, all those villains, they're all after me! I keep putting all of you in such danger and I can't even do anything about it," Matilda looked away from Vincent so he wouldn't see her crying, "I'm so useless, I can't even remember who I am!"

Vincent bent down to Matilda's level so they were face to face and with his good hand, touched Matilda's hand, "Don't feel guilty, that doesn't do any more good that doing nothing at all. Even when I had my heart, I never felt guilty about what I could or couldn't do; some things are just beyond our control. The only thing you can do is fight like heck to hold on to everything you can control. Besides, if this wouldn't involve you, it'd just involve someone else. Some power mad idiot is always trying to do something with Kingdom Hearts and the Heartless. People just never learn,"

"Thanks for making me feel better," Matilda asked, a small smile returning to her face, "You really want your heart back, don't you Vincent?"

"More than anything,"

"I'll tell you something. To thank you for all your help for trying to get me to remember, I promise, I'll help you find your heart!"

Vincent gave the girl a half-smile and sighed, "Go to sleep Matilda,"

Vincent got back up to his feet and much to his surprise, Matilda gave him a large hug before running off to her room. A husky voice came from behind him, "How is possible that a Heartless can have a bigger heart than most normal people?"

The Heartless turned around to see Lulu leaning on one of the hall's walls. "You don't need a heart to know what the right thing to do is,"

"I guess you're right," Lulu nodded and walked away. Finally alone, Vincent went into his room and collapsed unceremoniously on the bed and much to his annoyance, he did not fall instantly to sleep. Instead he thought about what Matilda had said about helping him find his heart. She truly was like a little child, there was no way to find his heart, it was gone and he'd probably never get it back. But it still didn't stop him from wishing for it…

Vincent was violently jarred from his sleep by a loud noise that sounded like an explosion. He snapped awake and fell from bed, groping for his gun and ready for a fight. Hearing a large racket far from his room Vincent got up off the floor and out. Kairi, Riku, Sora, Lulu and Matilda, all in their pajamas, had all been standing in their doorways looking up and down the hall trying to figure out what was happening. Sora spotted Vincent tearing down the corridor with his gun cocked, "Are we under attack?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" Vincent snarled furiously, "I am tired, I am sore and whoever woke me up is going to get a backside full of buckshot!"

Being on the cautious side, Sora and the others grabbed their weapons and followed Vincent to the source of the sound. Goofy, Donald and the King were already there and standing in front of a giant hole in the wall that was still smoldering. From their vantage point the warriors could see that beyond the missing wall that lead to what was formerly the outside gardens, part of the wall surrounding the castle was gone too. Standing on the remainder of the crumbling stone fence was a duck in a black and yellow costume with his cape flapping in the wind.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"Negaduck," Donald spat.

"This is just the beginning King. Until you give up your throne to me I'll keep attacking Toon Town," the figure on the wall yelled.

"Never! Toon Town should never been governed by a cruel being such as yourself!" Mickey shouted back.

"Fine. You think I'm cruel? Wait until everybody hears the reason they're getting hurt is because you're too stubborn," Negaduck cackled, "Because I'll keep blowing up parts of the city until you give in!"

Mickey frowned and looked down as Negaduck jumped away and disappeared into the night. Donald and Goofy tried their best to comfort him but it looked like the king could not be consoled. Sora looked back to the pile of rubble that had once been part of the castle, "That was Negaduck? The one that Launchpad and all them were talking about before we left for Olympus Coliseum?"

"Unfortunately, he is. He has been terrorizing Toon Town, trying to take over and be the king of Magic Kingdom. He doesn't think twice about hurting people, but this is the first time he's gone this far. I'm worried," the king confessed.

"Don't worry sire, we'll help get rid of him!" Sora said confidently.

"Oh no you don't!" Mickey said sternly, "I put you on a mission, you have to find Matilda's real home and help her get back her memories,"

"You seriously can't just expect us to go sightseeing when there's such a dangerous villain around!" Riku argued.

"Negaduck is dangerous, but the worlds will be in more danger if M and his allies get to Matilda before we find out who she is. That's the most important thing right now," the king sounded very serious.

Matilda looked abashed and looked to her Heartless protector for answers. She certainly did not want to leave and have people get hurt, that much Vincent could see. And he had his own ideas as well, "We're not going. And the Keyblade Master isn't leaving until me and Matilda leave,"

The king seemed to be getting more and more angry, "I appreciate everybody wanting to help but you don't understand the gravity of the situation! If M—"

"—Negaduck is in line with M," Vincent interrupted. Everyone looked to the tall Heartless with a questioning look.

"I can sense the Heartless all over that guy, even from as far away as we were. We know M is the one controlling the Heartless. Negaduck is in line with M, deep," he repeated, "We can't just run away in some noble effort to save the worlds. If we need to come back here for something, we'll just be taking chances with putting Matilda in danger,"

"You heard Vincent, if there are Heartless here it's my job to get rid of them!" Sora said determinedly, "Let's go!"

"Hold it. Just because we're going after Negaduck doesn't mean we have to do it now. I doubt he's going to do anymore this evening, this big explosion was all for show. I say we go to sleep and go after him tomorrow," Vincent put away his gun and headed back down the hall without another word. Matilda scampered after him and Lulu left shortly after.

The next day Sora and the others decided investigate more about Negaduck. They talked again with Donald's uncle but didn't learn much. It appeared none of the people in Toon Town knew much about the super-villain except that he started causing problems four months ago and the police and the city's legendary superhero were after him. At one point however, Vincent became more interested with the superhero than the villain.

"Everybody talks about some hero, but who exactly is this guy?" Vincent asked a timid looking shopkeeper who cowered before the Heartless's tall stature.

"No-nobody knows who he really is, but he really is a hero! There was a terrible crime wave a few years back, a bunch of these villains with terrible powers had Toon Town in their grasp. Then these people with superpowers called the Justice Ducks got rid of them. Most of the Justice Ducks left after the criminals were arrested, all except one," the shopkeeper explained, still scared of Vincent, "Darkwing Duck. Besides the police, he's the only one trying to do anything about Negaduck, he's made him his archnemesis,"

"Sounds pretty impressive," Sora said cheerfully.

"Sounds more suspicious to me," Vincent took the wind of Sora's sails.

"Why'd you say that?" Goofy asked as he looked through the snack selection of the store.

"I'm always suspicious of people who hide their identities, there's always a reason and it's never good. Secondly if this 'Darkwing Duck' guy was once part of a superhero team, I wonder why the team hasn't come back to fight Negaduck too," Vincent explained.

"Hey! Darkwing Duck is the greatest hero in the history of history! The only suspicious one around here is you bub!" Vincent turned around to see a plucky little duck with red hair and pigtails glaring indignantly at him.

"Now, now, Gosling. You should interrupt other people's conversations," a duck in a sweater vest was grabbing the girl by the shoulder and was laughing nervously.

"But dad!" Gosling whined, "We can't just let some jerk bad-mouth Darkwing Duck like that! Darkwing Duck is a really hardworking guy. And ever since recently Negaduck got way more powerful it's next to impossible to stop him!"

"You sound like you know this guy personally," Vincent commented.

"C'mon Gosling, let's pay for our groceries and leave!" the girl's father muffled her beak and put his things on the counter, "Heh heh, you know kids. When they see somebody on TV they act like they are their best friends,"

The duck left with his daughter hastily. Just as they were leaving Lulu, Kairi and Matilda came into the store, "Did you find out anything?"

"Not much," Sora sighed.

"So what's our next move?" Riku asked.

"We go on patrol," Vincent said simply. The others in the store looked at him, "Negaduck said he was going to attack the city. The only way to stop him is to find him when he acts,"

"I guess that makes sense," Sora concluded, "Tonight we look for Negaduck!"


	15. The Terror That Flaps in the Night

Chapter Fourteen The Terror that Flaps in the Night

Sora and the others returned to the castle to tell King Mickey of their plans. The King was still insistent that they go off and find Matilda's real world, but knew he was powerless to stop them. The group split off in three patrols: Donald would go with Riku, Kairi would go with Lulu and Vincent would go with Sora. Despite much protest, Matilda was forced to stay behind. Since Negaduck was working with M, it was likely that he was after her just as much as the other villains were.

Vincent said nothing to Sora as they patrolled the streets of Toon Town, making the Keyblade Master feel very uncomfortable. Vincent had proved not only was his being a Heartless not affecting him being a good person, he also had a strong sense of justice. But still, the tall man was intimidating with his red eyes that seemed to make everything feel small and worthless. And he had called Sora weak…

"Pay attention," Vincent commanded suddenly, Sora was startled out of his thoughts and began looking intently at all the alleys between the buildings.

"Hey Vincent, how did you know Negaduck wouldn't attack somewhere else last night?" Sora said, filling the air with noise to not feel so inadequate and childish.

"Because he's a coward," Vincent replied, "Last night was all out effort to scare us, to make it look like he had massive amounts of power. He does, but I don't think he realizes how to use it. Anyway, last night was nothing more than a show. If he attacked again he knew that we would be expecting it. Cowards like to use the element of surprise to reduce their chances of getting hurt,"

"Boy, you know a LOT about fighting," Sora whistled.

"I've done a lot of fighting in my time," Vincent shrugged, "Hold on,"

Sora stopped in his tracks and looked curiously up the Heartless, "What's up?"

"Shh!" Vincent silenced him, "What do you smell?"

"Smell? I don't smell anything," Sora whispered.

"Well, I do. Being around guns as long as I have, I can recognize sulfur just about anywhere," Vincent's red eyes darted back and forth trying to find the source of the smell. Suddenly he grabbed Sora and knocked him to the ground. Before Sora could say anything part of the building behind them exploded. Suddenly the other patrollers came running to check on Sora and Vincent.

"Are you guys okay?!" Kairi asked worriedly.

"Yeah, we're fine, but that was a close one," Sora smiled, lifting himself off the ground and dusting off his clothing.

"So the king thought if he sends his merry little band of heroes he'd be able to stop me," a voice said suddenly. Atop the building opposite the one that had exploded, Negaduck was looking down at them and laughing, "So you're the Keyblade Master. Pff! You're nothing more than a glorified locksmith. I don't know _why_ M is so worried about you,"

"I am the terror that flaps in the night!" another voice called out. The group looked up again to see another figure, Negaduck seemed annoyed, "I am that really creepy shadow that scared you as a kid. I am—"

"Well, well, if it isn't Dorkwing Duck," Negaduck laughed.

The other figure seemed to fall over in embarrassment. The group could see the figure had a shocking resemblance to Negaduck. The only difference between their outfits was the colors. Negaduck wore black and yellow, while this new person wore different shades of purple. Sora surmised, "Hey, you must be Darkwing Duck!"

Realizing the crowd below was admiring him, Darkwing Duck recovered from his insult, "That's right, in the flesh! And now Negaduck, I'm going to take you out once and for all. Your days of terror and crime are over!" Darkwing pulled out a gun and aimed it at the villain, "Suck gas, evildoer!"

"You think you're going to hurt me with that peewee squirt-gun of yours?" Negaduck laughed. He brought out his own gun, but along with his weapon, the air filled with shadows and several Heartless appeared, "I've been running with a new crowd featherbrain, one that's going to make your old 'Justice Ducks' look like toddlers!"

"Uh-oh," Darkwing gulped. He started shooting at the Heartless, while Negaduck continued laughing. Sora looked between his friends and they all nodded.

Sora, Riku and Kairi summoned their weapons and using Donald's wind spell were launched to the top of the building to fight the Heartless. From the ground Lulu and Donald used their magic and Goofy destroyed the Heartless that fell to the ground from the fight above. Though everyone was focused on the Heartless, Vincent ignored them. Despite his deep desire to destroy each and every one of the dark monsters, he could see they were merely summoned as a distraction. Instead, he focused his attack on Negaduck. Darkwing Duck noticed Vincent going after the villain and realizing what Negaduck was doing, went after his nemesis.

Vincent leapt up the building and pulled his shotgun off his back. Negaduck aimed his own weapon at the Heartless. The two began firing at each other, but neither's ammo looked like it was going to hit the other. Vincent crouched behind an air conditioner and switched out bullets for a more powerful cartridge. While he was busy, he noticed the duck in purple ready to confront Negaduck, "This is the end of the road, Negaduck!"

Negaduck was laughing hysterically, he came out from his hiding place and instead of the smaller gun he had used before he had a giant rocket launcher. Darkwing Duck squeaked and froze. Vincent groaned. The duck in black and yellow shot the rocket launcher at the frozen hero. Vincent reached out from behind his hiding place, grabbed the duck by the cape and snatched him back his hiding place just before the rocket could hit. The missile hit a spot nearby and exploded. As soon as the smoke cleared Vincent popped up and shot his own weapon. The new type of ammunition hit very close to Negaduck, sending out a powerful electrical charge. The villain managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, but the shock short-circuited his weapon and forced him to drop the now conducting rocket launcher.

"Nice shot fella!" Darkwing slapped Vincent on the back, "That's one awesome gun,"

"Less talking, more shooting!" Vincent snarled and not looking away from his target. Negaduck had switched back to his other weapon and was now in the process of running and shooting at the same time. Realizing the villain was trying to get away, Darkwing jumped out from behind the air conditioner and chased after him on foot. Vincent and jumped out and followed him.

Darkwing gained in on his adversary, following behind step for step. Whenever Negaduck had an item to swing across a building or jump over something, the duck hero had one to match. Their striking similarity was not lost on Vincent. Finally Negaduck reached into his coat and pulled out an explosive. He lit the bomb and threw it behind him. Darkwing came to a screeching halt and ran back, crashing into Vincent just as the explosive combusted and knocked his hat and mask off his face. When the smoke cleared, Negaduck was gone.

"Drats! The devious villain got away, again! Filthy coward!" Darkwing spat picking himself off and brushing the dust off his costume. He did not realize his face was uncovered.

Vincent got up and handed the items back to the duck, who squeaked when it hit him his identity had been revealed, "I recognize you, you're the duck from the grocery store,"

Darkwing was stunned and babbled, "Uh, no uh, good Samaritan! We've never met before I'm afraid,"

"No, I don't forget faces. You were the guy with the brat kid," Vincent stated. Before he could come up with an explanation, a purple plane zoomed up from below and opened the hatch. Crawling from one of the plane's back seats the red headed girl that stood up to Vincent.

"Dad, are you alright? Looks like Negaduck got away again. What are you doing with this creep?" she stuck her tongue out at the Heartless.

Vincent ignored her and turned back Darkwing who was grinning sheepishly, "So we've never met before, eh?"

Darkwing snatched his mask and hat and ran for the plane at full speed. The tall Heartless caught him by the cape. Inside the plane the duck pilot Launchpad called out, "Hey DW, you okay? Wah! You're not wearing your mask!"

"I remember you too, you're Cid's friend. You pulled us out of the water when we first crashed here," Vincent stated holding fast to Darkwing who was desperately trying to pull out of the man's grasp, "What's going on?"

"Wah! Vinny!" Launchpad seemed just as startled as Darkwing.

"You two know each other?" Darkwing stopped suddenly.

"You and Negaduck seem to share a lot in common. I think that you owe some people an explanation. We should go get Sora and the others," Vincent cast an eye at the embarrassed duck.

Darkwing sighed and put his hat and mask back on. He and Vincent climbed into his ship and headed back to where the fight started. It was clear that the Heartless were gone now and Sora and the others were looking around, probably wondering what had happened. The plane landed nearby and a defeated looking Darkwing Duck called out to the Keyblade master, "Hey, you kids, I think you need to come with me,"

"Isn't that Launchpad?" Riku asked Kairi as Sora stepped forward.

"Come on er…I don't know you're name kid," Darkwing called out sheepishly.

"You mean me?" Sora said rather excitedly. From what he had seen earlier in the fight, Darkwing was some hero, "My name's Sora,"

"Sora? As in the Keyblade Master?!" Darkwing blurted.

"Yes, I'm the Keyblade Master. What's going on?" Sora seemed very confused.

"That's what Darkwing here is going to tell us," Vincent said threateningly.


	16. Two Halves of the Same Coin

Chapter Fifteen Two Halves of the Same Coin

The group piled into the small crampt plane and flew off to a small suburban neighborhood. Donald spoke first as they flew through the air, "What are you doing here Lauchpad? I thought you work for Unca Scrooge,"

"Eh he, I do. But that's just my day job. At night I help DW fight crime, I'm his sidekick," Launchpad said proudly.

"So that's why you were arguing with Mr. McDuck," Sora concluded, "You saw firsthand what Negaduck was doing,"

"Correctamundo," Launchpad nodded, "Me and DW have been tracking that sleaze Negaduck for four months now. I don't think once we've seen him connected with Sher Khan, but we've seen him lots of time disrupt the city,"

"Though this is the first time we've seen him be so destructive," Darkwing said seriously.

"That's because he's been threatening the King," Kairi added, "Last night he attacked the castle and said if King Mickey didn't step down and let Negaduck take over, he'd destroy the city little by little,"

"Though I can't help but notice that you and Negaduck look very similar," Lulu commented.

"Something I noticed too," Vincent said, still slightly menacingly. Launchpad pressed a button and the backyard of a pleasant little house beneath them opened up. The pilot entered into a steep decline and the plane went into a near free fall as he went in for a landing. The majority of people screamed as it appeared they were going to crash, but in the last second Launchpad pulled up and skidded around a large underground lab. The hatch of the jet popped open and everyone inside fell out.

"You know what, I think Launchpad _is_ getting better," Riku said thoughtfully. Goofy and Donald considered it for a moment.

"Why did you bring us here?" Kairi asked, looking around the secret lab.

"Because he's going to tell us about Negaduck and why the Justice Ducks are gone," Vincent glared.

"I got the message bub! I'm going to tell them. After all he is the Keyblade Master, and Goofy and Donald are the Captain of the Guard and the head Magician. They're people deserving of respect and what they want, they get," the hero glared. Darkwing pulled off his hat and mask.

"Didn't we meet before?" Sora asked.

"We did. My real name is Drake Mallard. I started being Darkwing Duck in college to save a girl I had a crush on. Our relationship never worked out, but I really liked helping people and so I decided to stay being a hero,"

"So why the secret identity?" Vincent demanded, "Why not help people and let everyone know who you are? Like Sora does. Or my friends Leon and Cloud?"

"At first I did it because I was shy, but as I went on with my crime fighting things started getting really dangerous. And after I adopted my daughter Gosling I couldn't put her in danger,"

"But doesn't she come with you all the time?" Goofy asked, seeing the little girl sitting on the plane and swinging her legs back and forth.

"I tell her to stay behind, but she never listens!" Drake glared back at his daughter, who was now smiling widely.

"What about Negaduck?" Lulu reminded him.

"Boy you seem really interested in the guy. I thought your jobs were to fight the Heartless and save the worlds. Why are you interested in a two-bit villain like him?" Drake asked curiously.

"Because it's our job to protect the worlds and he's threatening King Mickey and all of Magic Kingdom. We're not going to let anyone do that! And on top of that, he's on M's side, the person who unsealed Kingdom Hearts!" Sora explained.

"So that's why he got so powerful…" Drake thought for a moment, "Okay, now about Negaduck and I'll start from the very beginning. As I said before, I've been a crime fighter for many years now, and while none of the villains I ever fought before were Heartless caliber, they were evil none the less. I had lots of enemies, lots of people trying to hurt Toon Town and its people. Then a few years back a bunch of villains got the bright idea to get together and fight as a team. I was overwhelmed, because even though I have lots of cool gadgets, I don't have any actual powers. So a bunch of heroes from all over Magic Kingdom came together to help me get rid of the villains,"

"The Justice Ducks," Riku predicted.

"Right, the Justice Ducks. Together we wrangled together the villains and put them in prison. And after each one was arrested the members of the Justice Ducks went back to where they came from," Drake continued.

"So what about Negaduck?!" Vincent insisted.

"Impatient bunch, aren't ya? I was just getting to that!" Drake snapped, "Anyway, the Justice Ducks just disbanded and I thought all the criminals were where they needed to be, behind bars! However, when I was going through the villain hideout looking for evidence for their trials I accidentally triggered a weapon they had. The weapon had the power to split things into two: the essence of good and the essence of evil. The weapon hit me and my body got split: my good heroic side…"

"And Negaduck," Vincent finished, "So that's why the Justice Ducks never came back. You were too embarrassed to get their help because you would have to admit that what they were fighting was everything bad about you,"

"At first that was true. The Justice Ducks really admired me, I was a Superhero with no Superpowers. So to ask them defeat my dark half would be admitting that I _have_ a dark half," Drake laughed but soon turned serious, "But then four months ago Negaduck suddenly got access to these extraordinary powers! I might have been too embarrassed to ask for help when Negaduck was just a nuisance, but when he started becoming a serious threat I contacted all the old members of the Justice Ducks, but none of them came!"

"The blockade!" Donald said suddenly, "I bet that's one of the reasons for the Air Pirates, to make sure none of the heroes could get into Toon Town,"

"That's what DW guessed and that's why I think Sher Khan is a good guy, because this is all Negaduck's fault," Launchpad nodded, "The good news is the blockade is over, the Justice Ducks should get here soon and Negaduck will be history!"

"Fat chance," Vincent said grimly. Everyone turned to him, "I'll admit what I thought about you was wrong Darkwing, you are a genuine hero. But being a hero isn't enough in order to fight against the Heartless,"

"Hey! My dad can beat anybody! Whether they're missing their hearts or their fingers or their legs!" Gosling came to her father's defense.

"As much as I hate to admit it, but Vincent is right," Riku said, "The Darkness is nothing to fool around with. Darkwing, we appreciate your courage and hard work, but we're going to take care of Negaduck from here on out,"

"Oh no you're not!" Drake slapped his hat and mask back on, "I'm still Toon Town's number one hero, not just some dweeb in a costume. Negaduck is my case and I intend on finishing this,"

"Come on Riku, Vincent," Sora tried to calm everybody down, "We're not having a competition. We're going to work together. And we're all going to fight Negaduck,"


	17. Operation Canard L'Orange

Chapter Sixteen Operation Canard L'Orange

"So how are we supposed to stop him?" Riku asked Sora, "We can't just keep waiting for him to attack the city in order to catch him. He's already gotten away from us once and there's a smoldering pile of rubble where a building used to be. What are we going to tell the owner? 'Oops'?"

"You're right!" Darkwing said determinedly, "This is gone on for long enough. Instead of waiting for him to attack, we should go after him first!"

"But, DW, we don't know where he hangs out," Launchpad stated, "If we did, you would have gone after him a long time ago,"

"Whose side are you on, Launchpad!" Gosling whined.

"DW's of course, but I mean," Launchpad stuttered.

"So we don't know where he is, but we don't want him to attack the city…" Vincent said thoughtfully, "And we've fought him before, but it looks like destroying him won't be easy, even if we do corner him. He does have the power of the Heartless now too…"

"So what are ya thinking?" Goofy asked the man.

"Darkwing, you said Negaduck was created when you got hit by a laser that separates good from evil, right?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, so what's your point?" Darkwing asked.

"Maybe there's a way to reverse the effect using that same laser," Vincent concluded.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Darkwing said happily, "And I know where the laser still is!"

"But that doesn't solve our first problem, how do we get to him without waiting for him to attack again?" Kairi reminded them of what Riku had brought up.

"There's only one good way to catch vermin, and that's with a trap," Vincent stated matter-of-factly.

"But you need _bait_ for a trap," Riku pointed out.

Sora suddenly looked like he had an idea, "But we do have bait! What's the one thing Negaduck seems to want more than anything?"

Donald and Goofy looked at each other brightly, "Of course!"

Sora and the others immediately returned to the castle to talk with King Mickey about their new plan. When they arrived, Matilda was waiting for them in the courtyard. She had been previously playing with Piff and Pluto but now they just stayed by her feet, "Hey guys, you're back!" she said happily.

"Hey Matilda, sorry we had to leave you behind, but I'm glad we did," Sora said cheerfully.

"I know, there was an explosion and sightings of Heartless in Toon Town. King Mickey just learned about them a few minutes ago," Matilda admitted, "He seemed really upset, you should probably go talk to him,"

Sora had been so caught up in his plan to defeat Negaduck that he had nearly forgotten about the destruction caused by the fight and all the warnings King Mickey had given about being careful. He slapped his forehead and groaned. Riku seemed just as miserable, "How much you wanna bet we're in really big trouble for this? First we disobey a direct order to get out of here and then we get part of Toon Town blown up,"

"Gawrsh, I forgot completely that that happened," Goofy said to Donald, "Do ya think he's going to be really angry at us?"

"I don't want to know…" Sora sighed. He suddenly seemed less enthusiastic about his plan.

"It's not the king I'm worried about," Donald admitted, "I'm more worried about my Unca. That building belonged to him. Oh… and I just got out of debt for the Gummi Ship…"

"Don't chicken out on me now, Keyblade Master," Vincent said gruffly, "If you want this plan of yours to work, you're going to have to face the King,"

The group found King Mickey waiting for them in the library, pacing back and forth in front of his chair. While the others went in with no problems Sora, Donald and Goofy stayed back coming in last and shifting around like guilty children. The King stopped pacing and looked directly at Sora. The Keyblade Master laughed nervously, "He, he, hey Your Majesty, how's it going?"

At first the King said nothing and Sora's forced smile disappeared. Sora and Riku looked at each other worryingly, not sure what the king would do. Mickey seemed slightly angry but when he matched eyes with the Keyblade Master, he sighed, "I'm glad to see you guys are okay. No one knew what happened to you after the fight with Negaduck,"

"We met up with the local hero, Darkwing Duck," Donald explained.

"That's good," the king seemed in a strange mood that was hard to read. He finally stopped pacing and sat down in his chair, "It looks like I owe you guys an apology,"

Sora was shocked and Donald, Riku and Goofy's jaws dropped to the floor, "You shouldn't be apologizing Your Majesty! It's us who should be sorry!"

"Yes I should, Sora. I was so fervent in telling you guys to leave, and the whole time Negaduck was in line with the Heartless just like Vincent said. I was so stubborn, I just didn't want to believe that the darkness had spread to my kingdom, the kingdom belonging to a Keyblade wielder," King Mickey seemed genuinely upset, "If you would have left, there would be no way for us to stop Negaduck,"

"No sire, you were right. I mean look, we ended up getting a building blown up!" Sora blurted.

"Nobody needs to be sorry for anything," Vincent interrupted, "You thought it would be better for us to leave. You made a mistake, but not a life affecting one," he said the King Mickey, "And Sora, you screwed up too during tonight's mission. We all did, we had no real idea of what we were dealing with. Now we do. Instead of sulking in misery over our guilt we need to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them,"

"You're right Vincent," Sora nodded, "And even though we messed up, we have a way to fix it. We have a plan to get rid of Negaduck, once and for all!"

The King's mood improved greatly, "That's great! What's the plan?"

In an old abandoned warehouse near the docks in Toon Town, Negaduck was sitting at a desk with his feet on the table, glowering with an irritable expression. Stupid Keyblade Brat, he thought to himself, Darkwing Dweeb was already too much to deal with and that kid and his gang of wimps had to interrupt his plans too. He would be king of Toon Town if it would be the last thing he did.

Suddenly a screen from an old security camera sparked to life. Though the reception was bad and the picture was fuzzy the unmistakable hooded face of M appeared on the screen and the being seemed quite upset, "Negaduck, what do you think you are doing? Your mission is to get the girl!"

"I'll get to that, eventually," Negaduck said nonchalantly, "First I have my own business to take care of,"

"No, you will take care of that now!" the being's echoing voice snarled.

"I thought I'm not supposed to come back until I prove myself. What better way to prove myself if I take over this world, that's what we're trying to do anyway right?"

"You won't need to work this hard once we obtain the strength of Kingdom Hearts. What you are doing now is just wasting time. And wasting time anymore is not something we can afford. The more aware the Keyblade Master is of our plans, the less likely they will succeed,"

"But if I'm king then I'll be able to get the girl anytime I like. As long as she stays on this world there would be no place for her to hide,"

"No, you will do it my way,"

"I don't like taking orders from people, pal, I'm more the kind of person to give orders, know what I mean?" Negaduck's attitude switched to anger, "I'm beginning to think it was mistake to get in line with you. I'll get what I want way better on my own, doing it my way,"

"Not if you want to keep using the power of the Heartless, you won't. If you want that power you will listen to what is best for our mission," M's anger disappeared and instead the tone was of deathly seriousness before the picture on the screen fizzled out.

Negaduck growled. He didn't like the idea of taking orders, but he had found the power of the Heartless too great, and M said he could take over Magic Kingdom _after_ they get the girl. After all, how hard could it be to kidnap a teenager? Sher Khan's and Seymour's failures floated briefly through his mind, but he remembered he was much stronger and smarter than they were. Suddenly the screen M had appeared flickered again, this time though it had picked up a local television station and appearing on screen was the King.

"My fellow citizens, as much as it pains me I must step down as king," Negaduck became suddenly intrigued and turned up the volume, "The villain Negaduck has said he will keep attacking you, the people of Toon Town and of all of Magic Kingdom until he is made king in my place. I care too much about you in order to see anymore people get hurt, so I will give into his demands. So Negaduck, if you are watching, if you want my crown come to Town Hall and I will make all the arrangements to make it official,"

Negaduck grinned an evil grin. Who needed M? His plan had worked perfectly, he knew that softhearted king could only last so long seeing his people get hurt. And his futile attempt to send the Keyblade Master after him would have no affect. If he was able to overcome Darkwing Duck, Toon Town's greatest hero for so long, no one could stop him. Cackling, the yellow and black garbed duck dashed for city hall.

For a moment he thought it may have been a trap, but at the front steps crowds of worried people had gathered and a defeated looking king was waiting for him, "Well King, hand over your crown,"

"Don't worry, I will," the king said sadly, "but first you need to come in and sign some papers declaring that you are now the legal and legitimate king of Magic Kingdom,"

Negaduck skipped merrily up the steps, stopping every few moments to wait for Mickey to shuffle slowly and miserably behind. Finally they reached the giant oak doors and Negaduck pulled them open. Someone inside shouted, "Now!"

Darkwing Duck leapt at his archrival and tackled him to the ground. Riku and Launchpad pushed the doors of city hall as wide as possible as Vincent, Sora and Goofy pushed the giant laser gun forward. Negaduck's eyes widened as he realized he had fallen into a trap and cursed himself for being so arrogant. He tried to wriggle away from Darkwing, but the superhero was holding tight. Donald, the king's royal Magician jumped up and pulled on a red lever. The laser hummed to life and a yellow light struck Darkwing and Negaduck at the same time. Both their bodies being to fizzle and particularize. Suddenly there was an explosion knocking everybody back and the laser disintegrated.

When the smoke finally cleared, one single limp body was sprawled across the stairs of city hall.


	18. Attack of the Turks

Chapter Seventeen Attack of the Turks

"Darkwing?!" Sora called out. The body had no response.

"Did something go wrong, did we use the laser incorrectly?" Lulu, Kairi and Matilda ran out to see what had happened.

"Hey, DW, say something!" Lauchpad said nervously.

"Oh no," the color drained from Sora's face as he ran over to check on Toon Town's number one hero. He wasn't moving, "You don't think he's…"

"DAD!" Gosling ran out of city hall. Vincent grabbed her and stopped her from seeing what was happening, "Put me down, you creep! Dad! Dad! Say something!"

Sora began frantically shaking Darkwing Duck's limp body, "Darkwing, come on! Say something!"

"Mommy, I don't want to go to school today…" the hero babbled.

"He's okay!" Sora said cheerfully. Everyone cheered and applauded, "It worked! Negaduck's gone!"

Gosling wriggled from Vincent's grip and dashed over to her father, "Dad, oh Dad! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

"I did it," Darkwing hugged Gosling and finally came to his senses, "He's gone. I solved my greatest case!"

"But why did the laser blow apart like that?" Riku asked.

"Probably because it was used for something it wasn't intended for," Lulu concluded, "But it's good that it's destroyed. Something like that shouldn't have existed in the first place,"

Suddenly a duck in robotic armor sped over on one wheel towards Darkwing Duck and King Mickey, "Sorry we're late, we just managed to get past those Air Pirates. You said you needed help, Darkwing and that's why we're here,"

"Who are you?" Sora asked curiously.

"I am Gadgetduck, the number one hero from Duckberg and a member of the Justice Ducks!" the robotized duck said proudly.

"Well, you're a little late," Riku smirked, "Negaduck's gone and you missed one heck of a close call!"

"Who are all of you?" Gadgetduck asked.

"Well Gadgetduck, I'm Sora the Keyblade Master, and I guess, we're the Keyblade Gang," Sora grinned.

With Negaduck gone and Magic Kingdom once again safe the group once again headed for the next world. Darkwing Duck and the rest of the Justice Ducks wished Sora and the others goodbye and they packed into the two Gummi Ships.

"Do you think we should tell Cid we were here?" Sora asked before climbing into the Excalibur.

"I don't think so, he'll probably be upset that we didn't include him in the action," Vincent rolled his eyes before packing Matilda, Piff and Lulu back into the Seaduck II.

The two ships lifted into the air and left the green, blue and once again peaceful world of Magic Kingdom to head off to search for Matilda's real home. Matilda stared wistfully back at yet another place she had made friends, and somehow felt she might never see again. "Don't feel bad, Matilda," Vincent said suddenly, "Even if we never go back, at least you've got the good feelings to go with those memories,"

Matilda was somewhat startled by Vincent's rather uncharacteristic statement but smiled widely, "I do have those good feelings,"

Vincent wished he could do the same, but all his memories either had no feeling related to them at all or he could only look back with complete anger. He tried not to think about his past and instead concentrated on Lulu's driving. They still said little to each other but there was definitely no anger between the two, and had Vincent had his heart back was certain he would have considered her a friend. He stared into the inky blackness of space and despite his best efforts, his past crept back onto his mind. The crackling of the ship's radio interrupted his thoughts and Donald appeared on the screen. Lulu was startled, "Something wrong?"

Donald replied, "I don't know if you guys have noticed it or not, but there's been a big black Gummi Ship that's been following us for the past hour,"

"A black Gummi Ship, you said?" Lulu looked out the back window to see that in fact a menacing looking ship was staying a few hundred yards behind them.

Vincent also looked out the window, but an expression of recognition and rage covered his face. Matilda got scared, "V-Vincent, what's wrong?"

He climbed into the front seat to get closer to the radio, "Sora, get ready to land. Traverse Town is up ahead,"

Sora got on the radio, "What? Why?"

"Just trust me," Without further argument from either set of passengers the two ships changed course to Traverse Town and landed. Shortly after their ships the black Gummi that had followed them landed. Vincent stepped out of the Seaduck II with his gun drawn. The others got of the ship too, but were still unsure of the Heartless's actions.

The cockpit of the black Gummi hissed and slowly opened revealing four people inside. There were three men and a woman. One man was bald with a goatee and wore sunglasses and a nice tailored suit. Another man had slick black hair and the woman was blond with short hair, they both also had on suits. The final man had long red hair but instead of a suit had on dress slacks and shirt and a long black trench coat over his clothes. All four had something in common: they all looked at Vincent as though they recognized him.

"Rude, Tseng, Elena, Reno," Vincent greeted them, barely suppressing the rage in his voice.

"Hey Vin! Long time no see, huh?" the man with long red hair said cheerfully.

Vincent did not return the same pleasantries, and he cocked his riffle, "What do you want? You've been following us,"

The bald man Rude sighed, "And you wonder why we left you behind. Vin, you are such a stiff, can't even say hi to old friends,"

"Vincent, you know these people?" Matilda asked in a soft surprised whisper.

"Heartless don't have friends, remember?" Vincent snarled, "And I might have been a 'stiff', but I was never stupid, what are you doing here?"

"Okay fine, there's no fooling you," Elena shrugged, "We're here on a job,"

"And what job might that be?" Vincent asked, though it was clear he was all too aware of the answer.

"You are Vin, we've been hired to take you out and deliver the girl," Tseng stated.

"What?!" Sora gasped, "That means you're working for M!"

"Yeah, he pays enough," Reno shrugged.

Vincent did not seem alarmed. Instead without taking his eyes off the four people he called out to Sora and the others, "Sora, take Matilda and get out of here,"

"No way, we're not leaving you behind! If they want a fight they can have it!" Sora summoned the Keyblade and Kairi and Riku followed suit.

"Don't be stupid, it's me they want. This isn't your fight. Now listen to me and get Matilda out of here," the Heartless never sounded more serious and the Keyblade Master hesitated.

Lulu seemed to be the only one to understand the situation. She grabbed Matilda by the hand and began running back towards the Seaduck II. However, before she could approach the ship Elena grabbed something out of her blazer and threw it at the ship, "Oh no you don't!"

The item hit the Gummi Ship and sent out a power surge, knocking Lulu and Matilda back. It was evident the ship was no longer usable. Wasting no time Donald and Goofy helped the two females up and tried to pull them to the Excalibur but Elena threw another electrical object, disabling the other ship too. Lulu put her arms around Matilda and declared the air shield spell, "Aero!"

"Aerora!" Donald added his protection spell to Lulu's. Realizing the danger the strange girl was now in, Sora, Riku and Kairi ran over to defend her. Rude and Tseng rolled their eyes and begin to chase after them. Vincent fired a warning shot at the two men's feet.

"Since when have you become 'Mr. Hero'? This is just business, don't take it so personally," Rude pulled out his own gun, a magnum with a silencer.

"I'm not taking it personally, but I'm not going just going to roll over and let you destroy me either," Vincent hissed and cocked his rifle again. Vincent shot at the people but all four dodged his blast. It was clear all were similarly trained. Along with Rude, Elena pulled out two revolvers, Tseng pulled out a semi-automatic and Reno snapped open a baton that sparked like a taser. They all fired at the Heartless but he avoided their attacks just like they had his. They exchanged blasts back and forth, neither's blows hitting the other.

"Vincent, don't act so high and mighty," Rude snarled, "Don't forget, you're just like us: a Turk,"

"I was a Turk, but my loyalty lies with my real friends now," Vincent snapped back. Flapping his cape aside he revealed his golden claw and launched himself at the group's leader, "You left me for dead! You left me in the castle of Hollow Bastion thinking Ansem's experiment didn't work. Well it did work, and when I wasn't dead and tried to come back to the group you said 'there's no way we're going to let a monster in, you'll never know when he'll turn on you.'"

"Well it looks like we were right," Elena cackled, "You did turn on us, and you are a monster,"

Vincent howled and snapped around, shooting his riffle at the woman. The cartridge from his gun hit her squarely in the shoulder and knocked her backwards, "You will never have any idea what that freak did to me. What I had to go through! Then you reject me, and you think I'm just going to let you destroy me now? The only way you're getting to Matilda is over my lifeless body!"

"That's the plan," Tseng ran by and emptied the clip, each shot hitting Vincent's body, knocking the Heartless back. He forced his body up, small trickles of black blood appeared from the bullet holes.

"Not so easy to kill a Heartless, is it?" Vincent laughed a horrible humorless laugh.

"Jeez, M is not paying us enough for this!" Reno whined.

"You're only doing this for money?" Riku called out.

"Well yeah, why else would we risk our lives like this?" Rude replied as he reloaded his weapon.

"We do just about anything if the price is right," Reno explained, "I mean, when Ansem offered us twice what he was paying us in order to do his experiments on Vin we couldn't say no,"

Vincent was caught off guard, "What did you say?!"

"Reno you moron!" Elena groaned, clutching her wounded shoulder.

"Oops," Reno laughed sheepishly.

"What did you mean when you said Ansem paid you twice as much to experiment on me?!" Vincent breathed heavily.

"You mean you didn't know? Funny story, actually. You'll laugh when you hear it," Reno continued to laugh but his humor soon faded, "We knew what Ansem was going to do to you, he only hired us in order to have more test subjects. We found out about it, but Ansem said he'd let us go and give us twice the money if one of us was left behind. We took a vote and picked you. We were really glad when you came back though, we didn't expect you to survive, but you were a Heartless, and well, Heartless are dangerous. We didn't want to lose out hearts too,"

Vincent's eyes narrowed dangerously, an animal-like rage building on his face. Though he always had been mad, he was always able to push his anger aside to focus on fighting. It looked like now he lost total control. Without thinking he abandoned his shotgun and lunged at the Turks with his bare hands. He grabbed Tseng by the throat at threw him at Rude, sending both men crashing into the side of a building. He was about the send a damaging punch at Elena when Reno ran up behind him and slammed Vincent in the back of his head with his baton. The baton lit up and sent a damaging charge through the Heartless's body. He slumped down into a pile. Elena, Rude and Tseng got up, surrounded their former colleague and cocked their weapons.

Sora and his friends watched back in horror, not sure what to do. Vincent had told him not to help, to protect Matilda at all costs, but he couldn't watch his new friend get killed. Before anybody could react however, the most upset of the group pulled away and ran forward. Matilda pulled herself out of Lulu's tight grip and broke through Donald and Lulu's protection spells. Lulu called out to her to come back and tried to go after her. Matilda stopped short in front of the Turks, with tears streaming down her face screamed, "LEAVE VINCENT ALONE!"

A sudden gust of wind flapped up, whipping Matilda's white and black hair around her face. The lights of Traverse Town flickered and died, leaving the dimly lit down even darker and a sudden wave of energy washed through. Sora and the others started shuddering and shivering uncontrollably. Reno clasped his arms around himself and his teeth chattered, "What the heck is going on? Why'd it get so cold all of a sudden?"

Vincent slowly came to recognizing the radiating cold, it was the same cold he felt whenever he touched or got close to Matilda. But this time if felt several times stronger, piercing through his body and strangely filling him with strength. His body began growing until he was nearly three times his normal already large size. The makeup of his body warped until it was the same black rubbery material his blood was made up of. The golden clawed hand he had grew and expanded, the small sharp talons elongating and becoming like scythes and his normal hand transformed to match. His legs became like those of an animal and his whole appearance changed to one like that of a werewolf. The emblem of the Heartless blazed over most of his chest. He now was completely without any emotion, not even anger, hate, rage or frustration, he only had one thought: he must take hearts, spread the darkness. There were several beings with hearts around him, four of which were the closest…


	19. Vincent's Soul

Chapter Eighteen Vincent's Soul

The Turks panicked and began shooting their weapons at the monster before them but they did no damage. A Heartless this powerful could only be damaged by someone who wielded the Keyblade. Seeing they were in serious danger they abandoned their attack and the four bounty hunters ran for their ship as fast as they could. They climbed into their black Gummi and launched into the air, disappearing into the sky. The Heartless looked blankly at the disappearing ship, four of the hearts were gone, but there were several left in front of him, strong powerful hearts and headed towards them.

"V-Vincent?" Sora stuttered. He didn't understand what was happening, why Vincent had suddenly transformed from merely a man with no heart into a full-fledged Heartless?

"Sora, I think he's going to attack us!" Riku yelled, "We've got to do something,"

The Vincent Heartless shuffled towards them, prepared to attack. Sora looked for answers in the eyes of his friends, not sure what he should do, "But we can't attack him, we'll destroy him!"

"Sora, I know he was our friend but the Vincent we knew isn't there anymore. We might not be able to help him," Riku insisted.

"If I thought the same thing about you, you would have been lost to the Darkness forever," Sora reminded his good friend.

"We might not need to destroy him," Goofy spoke up, "We might be able to help him, but not at this rate. We will need to attack him,"

Sora was still reluctant but realized his old friend was right. Though the Heartless Vincent wasn't attacking yet, it was clear it was only a matter of moments before the being before them unleashed its yet unknown power and speed. Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy prepared to fight. Kairi and Lulu pulled Matilda back to protect her, who up until this point stood and stared at Vincent. She, however, was not frozen in fear and seemed completely calm and determined.

Sora only gave a second of thought to Matilda's strange reaction and focused on helping his friend by fighting him. Sora remembered the last time he fought Vincent only a few days earlier. He was already a strong fighter then, now the Keyblade Master had to be much, much more careful. He summoned his Keyblade and charged the Heartless.

What happened next was very strange. At first Vincent seemed like he would match Sora's change when suddenly the Keyblade flashed a bright light. The Light seemed to blind the Heartless as he stopped charging and cowered back to shield his eyes. He kept backing up and Sora kept coming closer until the large Heartless was cornered in between two buildings. The light became stronger and stronger and Vincent began to shrink. The black rubbery skin that covered him melted away revealing his human features, his claws shrinking and on one hand disappearing completely. Sora continued his approach until Vincent was down on his knees, now looking like his former self though still shielding his eyes. When Sora was only a few feet away from his friend the light from his weapon faded.

"Hey, is everybody all right?!" Kairi called out as she ran over to Sora followed by the rest of his friends.

Vincent was on his hands and knees, panting and sweating heavily, with a severely angry look on his face. He felt like he had just come out of one of his many nightmares, except this time everything that had occurred, happened when he was awake. He looked at all the fearful looks on their faces, each one telling him they thought him a monster. Sora dared to step a little closer, "Vincent, are you alright?"

Without saying anything the Heartless got up and walked away.

"Vincent, where are you going?" Sora called out to him but the man disappeared around a corner of a shop without so much as looking back. He looked back to his friends for answers, "Did we do something wrong?"

"Ungrateful jerk!" Riku snorted, "We save him from himself and he looks at us like we did him a disservice! We couldn't have destroyed him, probably should have now that I think about it. Not only is he a Heartless, he used to be one of those bounty hunters! How can we trust him when he used to work with people who would betray their own comrade for money?"

"How can you say those terrible things Riku!" Sora gasped, "You know that isn't true! _You_ of all people should be the most forgiving!"

"Okay, I do admit I've made some dumb moves, and I even attacked you guys—"

"On several occasions!" Donald reminded him.

"Fine, but when you helped me out of it I had at least the grace to say thank you," Riku snapped.

"When was that?" Goofy asked innocently.

Riku opened his mouth to argue but Lulu interjected, "All of you have misinterpreted his actions. He's not angry at any of you, nor is he ungrateful for anything you did for him,"

"Then why'd he stomp off like that?" Kairi asked.

"Because he's mad at himself," Lulu said quietly, "He became what he hated most. Didn't you ever notice the hatred he expresses whenever he destroys a Heartless? That was the same look he had when he walked away,"

"You're right," Sora realized, "I have to go talk to him, tell him that this wasn't his fault,"

"It's better if you let me talk to him," Lulu said and headed down the direction Vincent had walked off in.

Lulu found Vincent in the center of town, sitting just on the ledge of the bell tower that was Traverse Town's trademark. The Heartless man was staring off in space, the same look of rage and hate stuck upon his face. "You shouldn't be here, it's dangerous,"

"I'm not scared of heights," Lulu replied.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," Vincent growled.

"The others are worried about you, you should come back,"

Vincent let out a humorless laugh, "Like I believe that, you saw the way they looked at me, they were all terrified of me!"

"They weren't scared of you, they were scared for you," Lulu explained, "You probably don't remember much, but all of us were very reluctant to attack you when you were in your 'other' state. Well, all except that boy Riku, but he strikes me as a fool,"

"I was actually perfectly aware of what was happening, there was just nothing I could do to stop it," Vincent sighed, "I never thought I could miss feeling anger and hatred, but when I was a full Heartless, I was so… numb. All I could feel was that I had to take hearts, there was nothing left to tell me to stop,"

Lulu sat down next to him, "Has that ever happened to you before?"

"No, that was the first time I ever transformed into a monster like that," Vincent stared down at the people walking indifferently in the second district of Traverse Town, "And I don't want it to ever happen again. That's why I'm not going with you guys,"

"You're quitting?!" Lulu gasped, "But Matilda is counting on you! You made a promise to her, and she idolizes you, looks to you like a big brother. And the Keyblade Master, he looks at you like you're a hero!"

"I never signed up to be anybody's hero, I only took this mission because I didn't want to the darkness to return. Leon and Cloud are the heroes. I'm more of a danger to you all than any kind of help," Vincent got up suddenly and punched the wall near the bell, causing the building to shake and the bell to let out a few low tones, garnering attention from the locals below. "I tried for so long to fool myself, that I was something more than I really am. But darn it, it's all a lie, I'm just a Heartless, nothing more than a monster! I destroy other Heartless because all along I knew that they represented what I really am. And nothing will ever change that."

"That's not true. You also used to be a Turk, you worked with people like those who attacked you, but you risked your life to protect your friends. Monsters don't do that,"

"How do you know I was protecting you and not just getting revenge for what they did to me?"

"Because I know you. I told you, we are a lot more alike than you realize," Lulu sat back down on the ledge and stared at the twinkling lights of the city, "The only thing I remember about myself was coming out of the place known as Castle Oblivion. It scrambles your memories, forcing you to forget everything about yourself. Organization XIII did that to me. They knew I was very powerful and thought that I would help them with their ambition in becoming their own Somebodies. I refused and they erased my memories hoping that I would forget my desire to find my Somebody,"

"If this castle you talk about erases your memories, how come you remember that?" Vincent asked skeptically.

"Because even if you're memories are erased it doesn't change who your core being is," Lulu explained, "The Organization tried to convince me of their same plan after my memories were erased, I still refused. They may have taken my memories, but they couldn't change my soul,"

"And that's when they dumped you on Fantasia,"

"Yes, they lied and said that they'd help me find my Somebody since I wanted to find her so badly and stranded me," Lulu nodded and looked Vincent in the eye, "You are the same Vincent Valentine. Ansem may have stripped you of your heart, but he couldn't take away your soul. Everything you do may not be 'right' but the core of your being is to do everything justly,"

He tried to change the subject, "Do you think it's better to have no memory or no heart?"

"Or no purpose?" Lulu added because of herself being a Nobody, "Probably no memory. You can always make more memories even if you forget the old ones. It's sad not having a purpose, because everybody wants to have a reason for existing. So whether you have memories or a heart really doesn't matter. And even if you remember anything if you have no heart, you can't remember the feelings that go with those memories,"

"I guess that makes Matilda the lucky one," Vincent said emotionlessly.

"I guess it does," Lulu got up again and waited for him, "So are you coming?"

"Even if I am a 'good person' like you try to say, it doesn't change what happened today. I am still a danger for the mission,"

"Vincent, do you remember what you said to Matilda the other night? Not to feel guilty about things you can't control? You didn't want to become that monster, that is more clear than anything. And even if you are a danger to us, you've protected us more times than you've hurt us,"

Vincent shrugged, "You're right. I need to start listening to what I say. If I don't I'll just be another annoying blowhard like Cid,"


	20. The Princess

Chapter Nineteen The Princess

Vincent and Lulu walked back to the district of Traverse Town where Sora and the others had been waiting. Donald and Goofy were examining the Gummi ships while the others were standing around and waiting. When they spotted the Heartless and the Nobody, everyone except Riku ran over to greet them.

"Is everything okay?" Sora asked.

"Yes, everything has been resolved," Lulu said confidently.

A soft noise came from behind Kairi. Matilda stepped out from behind the girl with fresh tears forming on her face. When her eyes caught Vincent's emotionless ones she broke into a round of sobs, "Vincent, I am so, so sorry!"

"What for?" he asked simply.

"This, everything. It's all my fault," She was so upset she could barely stand and dropped her face in her hands.

"I told you before not to blame yourself for what's happened. Besides, those backstabbers belong to me, remember?" Vincent stated.

"No, it's not that…" Matilda managed to say between her fits of sorrow, "You, you became a monster, because of me!"

"How?" Vincent asked curiously.

"I don't know, but I just know it's my fault," She rubbed her eyes. Vincent stepped closer to her with his arms crossed and towered over the girl, a grim expression on his face.

"Stop crying," he ordered. She sniffed one final time and tried to keep a hold on her emotions, "Listen, we won't get anywhere if we let ourselves blame ourselves whenever something bad happens. Something tells me that a lot more bad things are in our future. I keep saying 'we' because I mean 'we'. I've been letting myself feel sorry for myself. I don't want pity from anybody. Especially myself. So Matilda I think we should make a pact to each other,"

"What's that?" Matilda said, the quiver in her lip slowly going away.

"Don't cry or feel guilty for anything that's about to happen, and I'll do the same," Vincent offered out his hand to seal the agreement.

"It's a deal!" Matilda beamed. But instead of taking his hand she leapt at the man and gave him a hug.

Sora smiled. Even after everything that happened he couldn't stop admiring how cool Vincent was. Even if he wasn't a normal hero, in his eyes he was a hero none the less. Not everyone felt that way, however. Riku voiced his opposition, "It's easy to come back here and say you're sorry for what happened,"

"I never said I was sorry. I didn't do anything wrong," Vincent remarked, "Becoming a monster like that wasn't my idea,"

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact you're a Heartless!" Riku turned to Sora, "I think I realize now why King Mickey wanted us to come along. I think we should leave him behind,"

"Riku, you can't be serious!" Kairi groaned, "If King Mickey didn't trust Vincent he wouldn't have let him take Matilda anywhere,"

"I'm not staying behind. I thought about it, but this is still my mission. The mission I've promised to too many people already," the Heartless matched eyes with Lulu, who nodded her approval.

"But what if he becomes a monster again? I don't trust him," Riku said stubbornly.

"Riku's right," Vincent said suddenly.

"Say what?" Sora was shocked.

"You shouldn't trust me. I don't trust myself," Vincent faced the Keyblade Master, "That's why if it ever happens again, I want you to do whatever it takes to stop me,"

"Aren't you glad we came along now? When we first met you were so certain you didn't need our help," Sora smiled.

Vincent nodded, "I have to say I am,"

"So how long until we can fly off to the next world?" Lulu asked. Donald and Goofy trotted over, wiping their hands with rags.

"It looks like very soon. Whatever that woman used to disable the ships only has a temporary effect," Donald said confidently, "We may get out of here as soon as a few hours.

The group of villains was not happy when the Turks returned, and the Turks seemed just as unhappy when they faced M. M however seemed greatly amused, "I thought it would be no problem to face your old friend? You said you knew how he worked,"

"Well, Vin's learned some new tricks since last time, especially that last one of his," Rude said grimly.

"At least this was not a wasted opportunity, we learned much valuable information during this experience, and even in failure we appreciate new potentials," M stated, "How soon can you go back after him?"

"M, you're crazier than you look. There is no way we're doing that again," Rude snapped.

"You needn't worry, next time you will be given the tools to truly finish your old colleague off," M continued.

"Don't you get it? There is no next time," Elena blurted.

"We're not like your other cronies, remember? We're not here 'cause we have some grand ambition to rule the universe or become the universe or whatever the heck your idea is," Reno elaborated, "We're here because you paid us. But there isn't enough money in the cosmos to get us to face down Vin in that form again. We are out of here!"

Without a further word the Turks walked out and flew away in their Gummi ship. The remaining villains seemed angrier than before, "Our patience was already thin enough, M we will not tolerate any more failure. The bounty hunters proved useless, Negaduck is gone and the girl is still not in our grasp!"

"Negaduck was a stubborn fool. And the bounty hunters are less useless than you may believe, dear friends. While they failed in destroying the Heartless man this time, they unlocked his greatest weakness, which will prove useful in both capturing the girl and potentially destroying the Keyblade Master. The plan itself is still in affect," M said calmly.

"What do you mean?" the Horned King hissed.

"As we had discovered earlier, even with the power over the Heartless, we had no power over the man because he had his own freewill. However, it appears in his true Heartless form, he is just as susceptible to the influences of the Darkness as any other of the creatures. That is the key. Well, more specifically, the girl is the key,"

"The girl is the target, how can the target also be the key?" Sher Khan asked irritably.

"Isn't it obvious? Or don't you remember recognize what happened when she thought the man was in danger?" M sneered.

"I understand," the cruelly beautiful woman said abruptly, "Your newest idea may work after all, M. But we also lost track of where they are going. Those imbeciles you hired somehow disrupted our ability to watch them with those weapons of theirs,"

"That should be no trouble to you, my fair queen," M smiled.

The queen stood up from the table and walked past the screen from which the villains had been watching what Sora and the others had been doing. Since leaving Traverse Town, the picture on the screen was now nothing more than static. The queen approached a tall full body mirror, and when she stood in front of it she said, "Looking glass with magic speak, tell me where is what I doth seek,"

A green face appeared covering in the mirror, a sinister expression on its face, it vanished and showed Sora and the others walking through a thick forest, "O, Fair Queen, the Keyblade Master and the Heartless man have arrived in your realm. They search near the location of the Fairest One of All,"

"They are in my world?" the queen asked rhetorically, "And it sounds like they will be running into that blasted Snow White soon. Most interesting,"

"Most interesting indeed, my queen," M stated, "This means that it will be your turn to try to fulfill our wishes. Just remember what it is that we try to achieve: after the Heartless Man, the Keyblade Master and girl will be no obstacle,"

"Of course M. But it seems I shall be able to kill two birds with one stone," the queen said, staring at the image of a lovely young girl now appearing on the mirror's glass surface.

"Can you please tell use your memory one more time, Matilda?" Sora said, unable to hide the exhaustion in his voice. After leaving Traverse Town the two ships landed on a storybook world with thick forests everywhere.

"Well, I remember lots of trees, sort of like Fantasia, but not as dark. I lived there and was very happy but some terrible person captured me and gave me to a witch. That witch tried to take my heart and use me for darkness!" Matilda explained.

"That witch must have been Maleficent," Kairi surmised, "She must have thought you were one of the Princesses of Heart,"

"Oh wow! Do you really think I'm a princess?" Matilda gasped.

"It would make sense why M is after you," Lulu thought aloud, "It could be that your kingdom holds some great power of Kingdom Hearts,"

"Me a princess…" Matilda sighed and frowned, "It would be nice, but if I'm not that's okay too. I just want to find out who I am, whether I have a family that loves me and misses me,"

"Oh boy, I'm pooped," Donald abruptly stopped walking and flopped on the ground, "We've been walking in this forest forever!"

"It sure feels that way," Sora stopped too and sat down on a log, "We've been searching for hours and haven't seen hide nor hair of any other people. And I think we've past this point before,"

"You mean we've been walking in circles?" Kairi groaned and slumped next to Sora.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Goofy asked. The older people started discussing a plan of what to do next when Piff, who had been comfortably staying in Matilda's arms, flew out. The little pegasus's crooked wing made it hard for the creature to fly, but despite its awkward flight it was still stubborn and determined. Not wanting to lose track of her little friend, Matilda ran after Piff. The creature had found some baby deer playing with some rabbits and all the creatures were making little squeaking noises to one and other.

"Matilda, where did you go?" Sora called out.

"I'm just over here!" Matilda called back. Piff stopped playing with the deer and flew back to Matilda where he began neighing excitedly. At first the girl was unsure what the flying horse wanted, but soon she figured out what he was trying to tell her, "And I think Piff may have found something!"

The rest of the group found Matilda and the deer and rabbits ran away. They thought nothing of it until Piff started following the animals. Matilda and the others followed the pegasus until they entered into a clearing. In the clearing the little fauns and rabbits Piff had been playing with waited at a small hay thatched cottage.

"Hey, a house! Maybe we can ask some questions!" Sora said excited and ran to the door. The little animals hopped up and down, as though this was what they tried to tell the group. Sora knocked on the door. There was no answer. Sora waited a few more seconds and knocked again, "Oh just our luck! There's nobody home!"

"Figures," Riku sighed. He motioned for them to walk away when one of the little deer nudged Sora and started hopping around again. Curious, the Keyblade Master waited to see what it wanted. Getting his attention the animals ran behind the house and he followed. Behind the house were a well and a second door into the house, but this door was open.

"Hey! There's another way in," Sora called to his friends. The group caught up to him and went into the cottage. They found the house more than a little odd, but the fact that one of the doors was open was the least of their problems, since a lot of isolated homes didn't lock their doors. The oddity was what was in the house. Everything seemed to be miniaturized, from the chairs and table to the seven little beds in another part of the house.

"This place is weird!" Kairi commented, "Who do you think lives here?"

"I don't know," Donald said studying the house, "But this is the only sign of people we've seen in ages, I think we should stick around until whoever lives here comes home. Then maybe we can ask some questions,"

"Good idea, Donald, and while we're waiting we can get something to eat," Riku commented as he started checking the pantry.

"Gawrsh, isn't that stealing?" Goofy stated.

"Only if I don't plan to replace what I eat," Riku shrugged.

"Then you are stealing. You have nothing to replace that food with," Lulu said coldly. Riku flushed and tried to regain his composure. He closed the pantries and sat down on one of the tiny chairs.

Being the tallest, Vincent was the least comfortable with being in the small house. To not have his back cramp up from slouching to fit, he stood in the stairway. He noticed the stairs lead to another room. Climbing up a few, he found an eighth bed, but instead of being small like the others downstairs it looked to be of normal size.

An hour or so later a light feminine voice sighed, "Oh dear, I dropped them!"

"Hey, it sounds like there's someone outside, Vincent, why don't you open the door to see if it's this house's owner," Sora suggested mindlessly.

Without thinking Vincent opened the door. A pretty young woman with black hair and very fair skin was gathering apples that had scattered onto the ground onto her apron. At first she didn't see the man in her doorway but when his shadow was on the ground in front of her she became curious. Without much thought she turned towards him and looked up. The little color that was in her face faded, her eyes widened and she let out a blood-curdling scream.


	21. Prince Charming

Chapter Twenty Prince Charming

The girl continued to scream, edging away from the man standing in her doorway while he stood staring at her, an indifferent look on his face. Someone from inside the house called out, "Vincent what happened?"

"Nothing," Vincent said emotionlessly as Sora ran out of the house to see what was wrong.

Suddenly the girl stopped screaming. Though refusing to come any closer, she cautiously whispered, "K-keyblade Master? Is that you?"

Sora looked at the young woman on the ground and frowned in concentration as he realized he recognized the woman, "Snow White?"

"Y-yes," the girl said, now becoming less terrified. She slowly stood up, careful not to drop the apples she had a second time, "I almost didn't recognize you, you look so much older. Then again it has been quite a few years,"

"So this is your world, Snow White?" Sora continued to ask.

"Yes, this is my home," Snow White smiled but then looked fearfully back at Vincent, "I-is he a friend of yours?"

"Oh, Vincent is a good guy, you don't need to be scared of him," Sora grinned and turned to the Heartless man, "After getting to know him you forget he looks really creepy to people that never met him,"

Vincent shrugged and Sora helped Snow White bring the apples into the house. Riku and Kairi were standing, "What happened? We heard screaming,"

"Oh that," Sora laughed sheepishly, "That was just a misunderstanding,"

"What are you doing in this world, Keyblade Master?" Snow White asked as she put the fruit away in the kitchen, "Had I known you were coming I would have cleaned the house,"

"We didn't know this was your world, we sort of just ended up here," Riku explained.

"The Doors of Kingdom Hearts have been unsealed again. And it appears the only way to stop the Heartless is to find the world of that girl sitting at the table with the black and white hair," Donald continued, "We don't know who she really is, but the Heartless and a whole bunch of villains are after her,"

"Oh dear!" Snow White gasped.

"I don't suppose you know who I am, miss," Matilda said hopefully.

Snow White looked thoughtfully at the girl but shook her head sadly, "I'm afraid I don't. Then again, I don't know a lot of people who live here, I've spent most of my life living in a castle,"

"Snow White, are you okay?" a voice called out from the front door before a rush of seven small men came into the house, armed with pickaxes and shovels.

"Oh I'm fine," Snow White giggled, "These are the real owners of the house, the Seven Dwarves, they've let me stay with them. Gentlemen, this is the Keyblade Master and his friends,"

The seven men looked at each of the people sitting at the table with much suspicion. Sora got up and bowed in front of the men, "I'm sorry for barging into your house,"

"Figures that some rude kid would do something like this, I still say we should put locks in the door," said an angry looking dwarf.

"Now, Grumpy, there are very few people here in the forest, it's silly, and besides this young man did no harm. Snow White is fine," said the leader, Doc.

"The Keyblade Master is looking for this girl's identity," Snow White said pointing out Matilda, "Does she look familiar to any of you,"

"WATCHOO!" Sneezy sneezed before saying, "An odd looking girl like that isn't someone from around these woods. But she may come from the town just outside of it, they are known for some strange-looking fair folk,"

Snow White's cheeks began turning bright pink, "If you need someone to show you the town, I can show you,"

"I don't think it's a good idea, Snow White," Bashful blushed, "The queen is still after you, you know, it could be too dangerous for you to leave the forest,"

"Queen, what queen?" Goofy asked.

"My wicked stepmother. She wants to be the most beautiful person in the universe, so in order to get her wish, she gave me over to Maleficent since I was a Princess of Heart," Snow White said sadly.

"That's terrible! How can your own family do that to you!" Sora was outraged.

"She still wants to be the fairest person in this world and is still trying to destroy me," Snow White seemed more determined, "But if the Keyblade Master is with me, then I will be fine. Stepmother wouldn't try to do anything with him around!"

"Alright, but be careful," Doc finally agreed.

Though Vincent insisted on with staying with Matilda, he, Piff, Riku and Donald stayed behind with the dwarves while Sora, Kairi, Donald, Matilda and Lulu went with Snow White to the town outside the forest. Sora and Kairi stayed close to the princess but Kairi noticed something funny about Snow White's insistence to come to town.

"Snow White, I know you'd like to help us, but what is the _real_ reason you wanted to show us this village?" Kairi asked, "And don't worry, you can tell me,"

Snow White's fair cheeks turned pink again, "Well, that town is part of a kingdom ruled by a prince. Once I walked to this village to buy some sugar for a pie I was baking and I saw him riding on his horse, he was so handsome. I'm hoping I can see him again,"

The princess sighed and Kairi giggled. The forest thinned out and a bustling town spread out before the group. The dwarves didn't lie when they said the town was full of odd-looking magical creatures. There were dozens of normal humans in town, but there were also dozens of fairies flittering about. The problem was the fairies were all tiny, and as lithe as Matilda was, she was still a normal sized person. Almost immediately the girl realized the pretty world with trees was not hers. Seeing the defeated look on her face, Sora tried to cheer her up, "Don't get give up right away, Matilda. Someone still may recognize you. You did remember a place with lots of trees, right?"

"I guess I did…" Matilda was still not convinced, but still looked around.

"While you look, I'll buy some more sugar, I'd like to make a pie for all of you this evening," Snow White said.

"Hold on, Snow White, I'm not letting you out of my sight. You still are in danger," Sora said warningly.

"It will only be for a moment, and I don't want to interrupt your search," Snow White said.

Sora was skeptical, "Have Donald come with you,"

"I promise I won't be long," Snow White said earnestly and skipped away with Donald in tow. Then Sora, Kairi, Lulu and Matilda split off and began asking people questions.

Donald had a hard time keeping up with the princess on his short duck legs, "Hey, wait up for me, I'm your bodyguard!" Snow White didn't seem to hear him and disappeared in the crowd. Donald rubbed the back of his head, realizing he had messed up badly, "Oh Phooey,"

In the palace of the wicked queen, the woman stood before her magic mirror scowling. She had watched every moment of from when Sora and the others arrived to when they left for the town, but was still in a dilemma as how to deal with Vincent. She walked away from her mirror and paced in front of her many spell books, "The Heartless man's power was triggered by the girl's power, she unlocked her power when she thought the man was in danger. But how can I trigger that power? It would be difficult to attack without garnering the attention of my presence. Unless…"

She picked up a book of spells and flipped through it, a merciless smile cracking her cold beauty, "The man is a Heartless, but perhaps a potion that removes hearts will cause him to lose the bit of humanity that remained. What still remains is how to distribute that venom to his body,"

Holding the book she called on the magic mirror's powers once again, "Mirror, Mirror, looking glass, show me what I need to complete my task,"

The glass surface flickered and showed Vincent back at the dwarves home. He was sitting on a chair looking incredibly uncomfortable and irritable from listening to Riku complain, "I hope they get back soon, I'm starving!"

"So you've said, over and over again," Vincent stated.

"Hey, don't tell me you don't feel hunger!" Riku snapped back.

"Of course I do. And I'm also hungry, but I don't need to make a press conference out of it." Vincent's words cut like a knife and Riku became silent to muster the last of his battered ego.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon, guys," Goofy said cheerfully.

Back in her palace the queen tapped her nail against her front teeth and stood in thought, "It looks like with any man, the way to his heart, or what's left of it, is through his stomach…" She snapped away from the mirror and clacked past her bookshelf behind a secret door. Setting the book on a pedestal in front of a cauldron she began pouring various bottles into the great black pot. The contents mixed together in various vile colors, and satisfied with the result the queen put in one last ingredient. From a jar she pulled out a tiny dried worm and threw it into the potion. The concoction flashed a bright light and the worm floated into the air, now glowing a brilliant green. The queen gently pulled the creature out of the air and from a bowl pulled out a shining red apple. The worm crawled from her hand and wriggled into the apple, "No one will notice such a small worm in such a lovely looking apple. And when the Heartless man eats it deliver the venom that will turn him into a full Heartless! Now there is only one more thing to do,"

Emptying out the contents of the cauldron she put new ingredients into a new potion and her harsh cruel laugh slowly turned into a merciless cackle.

Snow White arrived the stand she was looking for and completely forgot that someone was supposed to be watching over her; she was too distracted by all the lovely ingredients the gnarly looking old woman had for sale. "What can I help you with, my dear?"

"I'd like a pound of sugar please," Snow White asked politely.

"Ah, sounds like you plan to make something special. Perhaps a sweet for a beloved?" the old woman asked.

Snow White blushed again and shook her head, "N-no, I'm having friends over and I'd like to make them a pie,"

"Oh a pie! That surely will make good friends, great friends, eh?" the woman commented, "Might I ask what kind of pie you're making?"

"I was thinking of making them an apple pie,"

"Oh that does sound mouthwatering indeed. Such a kind young woman like you deserves a present," the old woman reached behind her stand and pulled out a perfect looking bright red apple, "Take this,"

"I couldn't accept that," Snow White said modestly, "Besides, I picked some wild apples this morning,"

"Aye, but this apple is much more than it appears. It's magic!" the woman beckoned closer and whispered, "It has the power to make dreams come true, bring forth the wish from deep within your heart," Snow White backed away quickly and began blushing again, "Please dear, make an old woman happy and accept her meager gift,"

Snow White finally agreed and accepted the apple from the old woman. She paid for her sugar and suddenly realized that she somehow lost track of her protector. Frantic to find him again and not let Sora know she broke her word she began thoughtlessly searching the crowd. She was so busy looking that she did not see the person standing in front of her and crashed right in front of him. Smacking right into the man she began apologizing rapidly, "O-oh, how clumsy of me! I'm so sorry—"

"It's fine, miss," Snow White's eyes widened and her cheeks turned bright pink. In front of her was a handsome young man with dark hair and eyes in elegant clothes. The man she had crashed into was the prince of her dreams, "Don't I recognize you from somewhere?"

Without saying anything Snow White rushed off in a panic and kept running until she ran right into Sora and the others, "There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I'm so sorry, Keyblade Master, I must have lost Master Donald and not realized it. I hope my foolishness didn't get in your way," Snow White looked very ashamed of herself.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't look like Matilda's from here, we might as well leave now," Sora sighed.

They returned to the dwarves' house soon after and the party members left behind were eager to learn what Sora and the others have discovered. And once again, the Keyblade Master had to announce the Land of Ever After was once again, not the real world of Matilda. Riku groaned, "Another world, another disappointment. I'm beginning to lose hope we'll ever find her world,"

"Don't say that!" Donald said, seeing the already sad Matilda verging on tears, "We can't lose hope and we can't quit. King Mickey put us on a mission and no matter how long it takes I'm not going to disappoint him! Do you realize how many worlds we went to in order to find him? Or you for that matter, Riku,"

"But this is different. Then the worlds were vanishing, as terrible as this sounds, there was a limit to the places you could search. This time the worlds aren't vanishing so the places we can search are infinite," Riku reasoned.

"We've faced worse odds before!" Goofy said cheerfully.

Riku smirked, "Well, if you and Sora aren't giving up, I'm not either. There's no way I'm quitting something before Sora does,"

Sora laughed, "That's the spirit!"

"Since this place isn't Matilda's world, it doesn't make any sense to stay here anymore, we should leave as soon as we can," Vincent said bluntly.

"Well you must stay this evening!" Snow White begged, "I was going to make a pie!"

Matilda looked hopefully at the Heartless man. Vincent sighed, "Fine, we will leave in the morning, we should restock our supplies anyway,"


	22. The Fairest One of All

Chapter Twenty-one The Fairest One of All

Despite much protesting from the princess, everyone pitched in to prepare for dinner. While Sora and Riku set the table, Lulu showed Matilda how to make stew, Vincent and the dwarves went to gather firewood and the others cleaned up part of the house to make room for the additional guests. With so many chores out of the way, Snow White could focus on making her pie as delicious as possible and was very careful when peeling the apple the old woman gave her. Dinner was finally finished and when everyone sat down to eat, Snow White put the pie in the oven. The warriors were much hungrier than they thought, and wolfed down the cooking quickly, asking for seconds and in some case third portions. They cleared their plates and the princess presented the dessert in front of her guests, to much applause. She sliced a pie for everyone, and between the seven dwarves and the eight guests, everyone was left with only a small sliver. But it wasn't the portion that mattered, it was the taste, and it was agreed it was the best dessert any of them ever tasted, all except one.

Back in the castle the queen watched the meal nervously from the magic mirror, waiting for Vincent to consume the pie that contained the potion infused worm. But he only picked at the pastry. Matilda finished her slice with relish, "That was the best thing I've ever tasted, even if I don't remember anything, there is no argument!"

"I'm sorry there wasn't more. If I knew you were coming I'd have been able to pick enough apples for two pies," Snow White said sheepishly.

"Here," Vincent placed his slice in front of the strange looking girl, "You can have mine,"

"Are you sure it's okay?" Matilda looked unsure at the treat, "You should get to enjoy dessert too, Vincent,"

"Even though I can taste things just fine, it won't make me fell happy or content. It would be a waste for me to eat it. It's better off to be eaten by somebody who can enjoy it," Vincent shrugged.

Matilda was about to bite into the dessert, unable to hear the scream of rage miles away from the queen who saw her plans begin to unravel at the seams. But before Matilda could eat, her plate was switched from beneath her. Snow White had exchanged Matilda's slice for her own, "My piece is a little bigger, I don't mind sharing with someone who appreciates my cooking,"

"Oh, Miss White, you don't need to do that!" Matilda blushed.

"I insist, after all you are my guest," the princess said cheerfully. She dug her fork into her new slice and began eating. She took a few bites and started acting strangely. She dropped her fork, her eyes became wide and she clutched her throat.

"Snow White, are you okay?!" Doc asked urgently.

Snow white didn't answer. She continued to clutch her throat and pushed her self away from the table and tried to stand. She took a few steps backwards before collapsing onto the floor. Sora ran over followed by all seven of the dwarves, "Snow White!"

The Keyblade Master picked up the girl and tried to shake her to consciousness but she was completely unresponsive. Donald and Lulu ran over to see what was wrong. The two magic users exchanged glances and placed their hands over the princess, who was beginning to look paler and paler by the second. Next Riku, Goofy and Kairi surrounded the princess and the only ones not by the girl's side was Vincent and Matilda. Vincent was trying to keep Matilda away from the scene, figuring that the worst may have happened.

"Everybody back off!" Donald blurted out, "She needs some air,"

"Donald, what's wrong with her?" Sora asked desperately.

"Her heart is missing," Donald said as he further examined Snow White.

"What? How?" Riku asked angrily, "The only way to lose a heart is if a Heartless steals it. And the only Heartless we've seen in this world is Vincent. Unless he…"

"Just try and finish that sentence," Vincent said venomously.

Lulu shook her head, "It was a potion, a powerful one. I can still detect the traces on her body. Whoever made it was a skilled magician,"

"But how was the potion delivered?" Kairi added her question to the growing mystery. Lulu's dark violet eyes flashed from the body of Snow White to the plate of pie on the table, the fork still where Snow White dropped it. The whole room gasped and Kairi began clutching her own throat in fear, "Are we going to lose our hearts too?"

Donald shook his head, "Everybody calm down. The potion was just in Snow White's slice, there was something in her piece that wasn't in anybody else's that took her heart away. Everybody else should be fine. But I wonder how the potion got into her slice in the first place,"

Though Vincent tried to pull the girl away from the situation, Matilda heard everything that had happened, and was doing everything in her power to not start sobbing. With a quivering lip and failing voice she quietly said, "When Miss Lulu was showing me how to make stew, I saw Miss Snow White peeling an apple,"

"Well, of course you would, she made an apple pie," Riku stated the obvious.

Matilda shook her head vigorously, "The apple she was peeling looked different than the other ones. The one I saw was bright red, the others were sorta yellowish,"

"Garwsh, but where'd she get that apple?" Goofy wondered aloud. Donald's jaw dropped and he slapped his own forehead and began garbling about how stupid he was.

Sora looked serious as he stared down at the body of Snow White, limp in his hands, "She must have gotten it when we lost track of her. I feel so stupid, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight,"

"No Sora, I lost her," Donald patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"But who would want to do such a terrible thing to her?" Matilda looked sadly at Vincent, hoping he had an answer, but he wasn't the one who spoke.

"The Queen!" The dwarves said simultaneously.

The queen cursed her bad luck for the failure of her plan, but at the same time couldn't help being a little happy with the results. Though she was unable to transform Vincent into a full mindless Heartless like he became in Traverse Town she had accomplished one goal she had wanted for years: she had gotten rid of Snow White for good. There was no remedy for the potion she created and through a happy accident she was now the Fairest One in the World of Ever After. She savored her victory as she thought of another plan. Suddenly the image on her mirror changed from the scene at the dwarves' cottage to a cloaked figure.

"My queen," M said hollowly, emotion hard to read.

"May I help you, M?" the queen said, unable to wipe the cruel smile from her porcelain face.

"I admire and respect your work and planning. The idea of further pushing the Heartless man into Darkness is certainly a breakthrough, and had gotten us closer to our goals than any other of our associates have succeeded in achieving," M said cordially, but quickly changed tones, "But I warn you to not be so careless in the future. Had the girl eaten the potion instead of the princess, our plans would have been ruined completely,"

"Wouldn't killing the girl help us achieve the same goal as absorbing her power?" The queen asked innocently.

"Absolutely not." M said angrily, "Her destruction would mean oblivion. She is a key to more than just the Heartless man's destruction, or the power of the Darkness,"

"I understand, and I apologize. I will continue with my plan, but a mistake like that will never occur again,"

"Be sure that is doesn't," M flashed out of the mirror, and the scene of the cottage appeared again. This time though, only Kairi and Riku were visible standing over Matilda who was crying over Snow White's body.

The queen found this amusing, "I will still prepare for the Heartless man, though it looks like it might not be necessary. The girl is as good as alone,"

And with that, the wicked queen returned to her lab and began creating some more of the heart-stealing potion.

"I want to come with you!" Matilda begged.

"No way." Vincent said bluntly as he loaded his weapon. He, the dwarves, Lulu, Donald, Goofy and Sora were preparing for battle, "It's too dangerous. This woman already hurt one person just to be considered beautiful, I don't want to think about what she'd do to a kid like you,"

"But I want to help!" Matilda whined. Once again she demonstrated her strange behavior which wavered between great maturity and childlike naiveté.

"The best way you can help is to stay safe. Besides, we need someone to watch over the princess in case the queen decides to go farther than just taking her heart," Riku added, "After all, Kairi and I are staying behind too,"

"Okay," Matilda finally admitted defeat, "Just make sure you bring back Snow White's heart!"

"Absolutely," Sora said with steely determination, "But even if we can't, that evil queen is going to pay for what she did,"

With that, the warriors and the dwarves headed for the queen's castle. They got there as quickly as possible, not wanting to waste any time for Snow White's sake. Riding deer, the dwarves got ahead of Sora and the others but they were determined to catch up. As they crossed the mountain in a matter of a few hours the queen's palace shone ahead. They picked up their pace, ready for a full assault instead of an ambush. Using Goofy's shield and the dwarves' pickaxes, they broke the gates down and stormed into the castle to look for the queen. The front hall seemed to split off in two different directions and Sora motioned for the dwarves to go one way, while he, Vincent, Lulu, Goofy and Donald went another.

The queen was nearly done with the heart-stealing potion when she heard he palace being invaded. She cursed and spat and accidentally added an ingredient that wasn't needed. While it didn't spoil her concoction the affect transformed her back into the old woman she appeared as in the market, "Curses, my beauty! That blasted Keyblade Master and those little fools will not get away with this intrusion. M, I find it time for you to hold up your end of our little 'friendship', give me the power over the Heartless!"

From the shadows that were cast in the room from her equipment and books, pools of blackness changed into the heart-stealing creatures known as Heartless. They were not as large or as powerful as she had hoped for, but she knew they would do what she needed them to do. She pointed her now gnarly-looking finger at the door and ordered, "Go after the Keyblade Master and his friends, and take out those blasted dwarves as well. But don't take his power lightly, and don't bother with the one that is like you. Leave the Heartless man to me, you won't be any match for him,"

Without hesitation, the Heartless obeyed her command. The queen returned to completing her potion and with the last few ingredients it changed into the bright green indicating it was done. But instead of placing a small worm into the ooze, she dumped in a barrel of snake skeletons and with a flash of light dozens of squirming writhing snakes came pouring out of the cauldron. With a crooked smile the queen called out an additional command to her new servants, "Oh my lovelies. Your bite contains the venom that steals hearts. While the Heartless take care of the others, I want _you_ to attack the Heartless man, and change him into the monster he truly is,"

As the snakes headed out to obey their master the queen-turned-witch let out a bloodcurdling cackle that echoed through the entire castle.


	23. Witch vs Witch

Chapter Twenty-two Witch vs. Witch

Sora and the others were running through the castle searching for the evil woman who had hurt Snow White. Their search was uninterrupted when Lulu called to them to stop, "Something isn't right,"

"Yeah, we haven't found the queen yet!" Sora said impatiently as he tried to start searching again.

"I think I know what she means," Goofy scratched the side of his head, "Since this is a castle and all, shouldn't we have seen a knight or a guard or somethin'?"

"You're right! There should have been somebody by now!" Sora realized in horror that they had stepped right into a trap. He began searching around, waiting for hordes of armed men to fall upon him and his friends. They didn't come. Or at least, not hordes of knights.

Vincent suddenly crouched and began growling like an animal, "Heartless!"

From the corridor dozens of the evil creatures formed out of the shadows and began attacking. Sora was unafraid as he began destroying the monsters one by one as a different thought crossed his mind, "I can't believe we were this stupid, we should have seen it. If there are Heartless, that means the queen is working with M, and must be after Matilda!"

"The potion must have been meant for her, not Snow White," Donald figured.

"I am so glad that she didn't come with us," Sora said gratefully as he continued to plow through the Heartless, "She'd be in real danger if she were here. And she has Kairi and Riku to protect her,"

"Those kids are tough but they don't have the strength to survive an onslaught like this," Vincent snarled, "We have to make sure that queen doesn't get to Matilda while we're here!"

"You're not suggestin' we go back for Matilda and leave the queen alone for what she did to Snow White!" Goofy asked.

"Of course not, there's no way with her having the Heartless to get back to Matilda before the queen does," Vincent stated, "But this only means we have to get rid of that witch sooner," Though the group were destroying the Heartless non-stop, the creatures were soon crowding the corridor. Seeing the fighting was wasting time, Vincent broke ahead, "Lulu and I will go after the queen ourselves, you stay back and take care of these vermin,"

"Right!" Sora nodded and he, Donald and Goofy stepped up their attacks. Lulu and Vincent pulled themselves away from the fray, shocked to find that not one of the Heartless had followed them. The followed the corridor from which the monsters first appeared and found themselves going up a tower. Vincent ran up ahead of Lulu and let out a yell or rage before firing off a set of blasts.

"What happened?!" Lulu called out, she caught to the Heartless man who was surrounded by dozens of snakes and clutching onto his good arm with his metallic claw.

"Stay back!" Vincent snarled, "These snakes' fangs have the potion that steals hearts,"

Lulu stepped back and realized that even though she had moved suddenly, the snakes seemed completely uninterested in her. She destroyed several with her thunder magic and she and Vincent continued to run up the corridor. More snakes came crawling down the stairs, making the stone steps look like they were moving, but all of them crawled right past Lulu and headed for Vincent. Vincent's reactions had slowed and he had difficulty firing his gun, so while he was able to get rid of some of the snakes, several more had managed to bite him. Lulu did her best to destroy them but suddenly understood what was happening, "Vincent, the snakes are all after you!"

"That's ridiculous, they contain potion that removes hearts, I'm already a Heartless. All it's doing is slowing me down," Vincent argued. In the shift of the light Lulu noticed Vincent's skin was beginning to blacken and his metal claw was beginning to warp.

A realization hit Lulu's gut, "Vincent, the queen wasn't after Matilda or Snow White. She was after you!"

"What are you talking about?" Vincent's head beginning feeling strange again, like he was going numb.

"That slice of pie that Snow White ate was the slice you gave Matilda. The queen was trying to give you the potion, that's why the snakes are after you too," Lulu stated urgently, "The queen is trying to change you into that monster you became in Traverse Town,"

As Vincent felt himself grow more and more apathetic and begin thinking about destroying the Nobody before him, he realized she was right, "But why?"

"I don't know why, but if the effects aren't reversed soon you'll become a complete Heartless again," Lulu turned toward the corridor, "Fight that potion, Vincent, fight it as much as you can. I'm going after that witch myself,"

Vincent wasn't able to argue, he could no longer speak, but he didn't feel like he wanted to. What did he care what Lulu did? All he knew was that she a Nobody he wished to destroy. No, he thought to himself as he slide against the wall of the corridor, the enchanted snakes continuing to attack him.

"FIRAGA!" the door exploded into ash at Lulu stepped into the wicked queen's laboratory. Her violet eyes flashing rage as the rest of her pale severe face stayed emotionless.

The queen looked up from her cauldron and mirror to the powerful witch standing in her doorway, "Oh, I recognize you, you're one of the friends of the Keyblade Master. Since you're the only one here, I assume all the others are gone,"

"You would assume wrongly," Lulu prepared another attack. The other witch seemed unafraid.

"But the Heartless man is transforming into a monster, though. It won't be long now until he becomes just another Heartless, another one that M or I can control. The girl with strange hair and eyes won't have her protector long,"

"Even without Vincent, there will be no way you will get to the girl, not so long as I live, or the Keyblade Master, or any of the others that have come to protect her. Whatever plans you and M have for her and Kingdom Hearts, they _will_ fail," Lulu's voice became icy and terrifying, "Besides, Vincent will not become that monster, because you are going to tell me how to reverse the effects of the serum you gave to him and the princess,"

The queen was cackling, "I might as well tell you. There _is_ no reversing the effects of that potion. The man will become a monster, and I will forever remain the Fairest One of All!"

"A crooked old witch thinks she can be the most beautiful woman alive?" Lulu sneered, "I am amazed by the powers of your own delusions,"

"This is not how I truly look! My true appearance is of one of great beauty, with high cheekbones and skin like porcelain!" the witch howled, "This is the result of a mere mistake with a potion. As soon as you are dead and the Keyblade Master is eliminated, I will have the power to become the Universe's most gorgeous creature!"

"With a heart that ugly, that will never be true," Lulu struck a pose and summoned her magical stuffed animal, "Gravira!"

"Aero!" The witch protected herself with a wind spell, "Thundaga!"

Dozens of thunderbolts came cascading down and Lulu was unable to move out of the way. Each strike hit her body and she collapsed on the ground. The witch began laughing when Lulu forced herself onto her knees, "C-curaga,"

She stood back on her feet, completely healed of the dramatic injury she just survived. The queen gave her an approving nod, "Impressive, you not only survived my thunder attack, you still managed to have the strength to completely heal yourself. I've only met one other magic user with that kind of strength. A woman I met a long time ago, now that I think about it, you two were very similar in appearance,"

Lulu suddenly realized the queen was speaking of her Somebody, "What was her name? Where did she say she was from?"

"I don't remember," the queen shrugged, "But that doesn't matter now, because you will not survive my next assault,"

The two exchanged blows, magical spells of fire, ice, thunder, time and gravity were exchanged and countered. Both of the witches would run out of power soon, Lulu knew she had to do something as a final blow, but she couldn't think of any power the queen could not match. A flicker of a memory passed through her mind, not one of who she was or where she came from, but one of her days just before the Organization abandoned her.

All the members of Organization XIII could use powers that were exclusive to them. Axel had the powers of fire, Vexen was a master of ice, and before she had ultimately refused the group's offer, they taught her a spell only she alone could use. A spell that contained the powers of all magic and at the same time none at all. It would use the last piece of energy Lulu had, but she had to try, "Magic Flare!"

She swooped her arms in a wide arch, with her magical toy mimicking her exact movements, their combined shadow cascaded onto the floor splashing black onto the ground. The black began separating into the colors of the rainbow like a gasoline spill, surrounding the witch and colliding with the queen back into one form: white light. The light slammed the witch-queen through a wall but she caught herself on the ledge and pulled herself back up, "Ha, ha! I admit I wasn't expecting that, but little witchling, that won't be enough to defeat me!"

Lulu was on her hands and knees, completely drained and unable to move. She watched carefully as the queen attempted her own final spell, but she did not come back into the lab. Instead she stood on the ledge and made a grand gesture. The force of the spell may not have destroyed the queen, but it greatly weakened the wall she crashed through. As the queen began her spell the rocks of the ledge she was standing on gave way and she fell. She let out a terrible scream as she fell from the palace tower and though Lulu didn't see what had happened, she knew no one could survive a fall from that height. She had succeeded in defeating the queen.

But the structure of the room was also weakened and she felt the tower begin to give way. On nothing but pure adrenaline Lulu grabbed her magic toy and ran down the stairs as the room caved in behind her. She felt a strange crunching under her feet, the dozens of enchanted snakes turned back into skeletons but when she made it back to the stairwell, Vincent was gone. Within a few seconds Sora, Goofy and Donald were running up the stairs. Sora immediately saw Lulu and asked, "The Heartless just disappeared when we fought them. What happened?"

"The queen is gone," Lulu panted, "But Vincent became infected with the heart-stealing potion, he'll become a full Heartless again. It may already be too late, if the other Heartless are gone it may mean he disappeared with him,"

Sora refused to believe that, "I'm sure he's fine. We should get out of here right away and get back to Riku and the others. We need to make sure they are okay,"

The group ran downstairs and found the seven dwarves waiting for them. They looked like they had gotten into quite a scuffle, "We got cornered in the basement by these terrible creatures, but then they suddenly disappeared. What's going on?"

"You don't need to worry about that anymore," Goofy said, "The queen is gone,"

"Does that mean Snow White will be okay?" Doc asked.

Lulu glanced at Sora, "I hope so,"

The group thought it'd be best to leave the palace as soon as possible and try to get back to see if Matilda was still okay. Much to their surprise, Matilda, Riku and Kairi were waiting for them. Matilda was holding Piff while Kairi had her Keyblade out, still ready to fight, and Riku was carrying the limp Snow White on his back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sora said in surprise.

"The Heartless attacked the cottage, we barely got out of there. We guessed that the queen was working with M and she must have figured we'd be weaker by ourselves. Turns out though that Matilda is a lot stronger than we give her credit for," Riku explained, "I had to carry Snow White so Kairi was alone in fighting the Heartless off, but Matilda here somehow kept them back and suggested we try to find you guys,"

Matilda saw Vincent was not with them cried out, "Where's Vincent?!"

"We don't know, he vanished after the fight with the queen," Lulu stated.

"Is Snow White okay?" the dwarves asked Riku.

"The Heartless didn't get a chance to lay a finger on her," Riku stated, "But she hasn't changed. She still doesn't have her heart back,"

"But we don't understand, you said the queen was defeated!" Doc looked back to Lulu.

Lulu broke her eyes away from the group, "The queen is gone, but before I destroyed her, she told me… that there is no reversing the potion,"

The group looked at her abashed, "You mean, Snow White will never get her heart back?"


	24. Heart for a Heartless

Chapter Twenty-three Heart for a Heartless

Everyone was heartbroken when they returned to the dwarves' cottage. The prospect that the kind, sweet beautiful princess would never wake up was too much for anyone to bear. On top of Vincent's disappearance and the knowledge that he too was stricken by the same potion that was keeping Snow White asleep, hope was slim with the warriors. But the seven dwarves could not give up complete hope and asked that Sora and the others build a glass casket to keep her alive in the small chance her heart could one day be returned to her.

"Are you sure, Lulu, that there is no reversing this potion?" Sora said in disbelieve as he saw the pale girl lying in the glass box the dwarves put on the top of a hill.

"The queen said there is no reversing the potion, and she had no reason to lie. She thought she was going to destroy me," Lulu said sadly, "And her lab was destroyed, so even if there was an antidote, it's lost to us,"

"There has to be a way to reverse the spell," Donald argued, "Everyone knows for every spell there is a counter-spell, for every potion there's a remedy,"

"If there is, Master Donald, I do not know it," Lulu sighed.

"This is terrible, but the fact that Vincent is somewhere out there as a full Heartless scares me even more," Riku remarked, "This time he we might not get him back to normal. For all we know he works for M now,"

"SHUT UP!" Riku spun around and everyone was shocked. A look of complete calculating rage was on Matilda's face, "You always say mean things about Vincent and Miss Lulu. You have no right to! Even as a full Heartless he would never turn against us. This is why he was going to leave us in Traverse Town even though what happened was my fault and not his. We're going to reverse that potion! Snow White is going to wake up and Vincent is going to go back to normal!"

Riku, or anyone in the group, was never quite sure what to make of the strange girl they were assigned to protect. Riku had regarded her as strange and a bit silly but when looking into her red and blue eyes it felt like the pit of his stomach had turned to ice. He was scared of her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way,"

The mood turned back to silence as all them stared at the glass casket that contained Snow White's heartless body in sadness. No one noticed the clopping of hooves that approached the hill until a voice gasped, "Oh no, what happened to that beautiful creature!"

They turned around and the dwarves gathered themselves in front of the casket protectively. Before them stood a handsome young man with dark eyes and hair standing next to a white horse. Kairi recognized him as the prince Snow White liked and now saw the anguish and confusion on his face, "She lost her heart,"

"What? No, that cannot be possible," in disbelief the prince approached the casket, the dwarves refused to move, "Please, let me see her. I have seen this girl in the forest and in the village. I had fallen in love with her, and wanted to marry her. This cannot be that such a lovely jewel as her would lose her heart. Fate cannot do this to me when I have found my true love,"

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Sora said, with just as much sympathy as Kairi had expressed.

The prince looked as though he was about to cry, "If there is no help for her, please allow me to say goodbye to her before even getting to say hello,"

Sora exchanged looks with the dwarves, and with some hesitation, they agreed. Together with the help of Sora, Riku and Goofy, the dwarves lifted the top of the casket off of Snow White. Very gently, the prince sat next to Snow White and picked up her limp hand. He bent his head down and placed a kiss on her lips. He got up and began to turn away when there was a sudden gasp. The color in Snow White's face was beginning to return! Her chest was beginning to move up and down again and her eyes fluttered gently open.

"Snow White!" the dwarves shouted in happiness as the princess sat up and looked around, still unsure of what happened or where she was. The prince turned around and ran to the princess. Snow White realized who he was and began blushing.

"Fair Maiden, I fell in love with you the first day I saw you, please say you'll marry me," the prince knelt down on one knee in front of Snow White.

"Y-you want to marry me?" Snow White stuttered. She thought only for a second, "Yes!"

The prince swooped up the princess in his arms and placed her on his horse. The dwarves began cheering and Sora and the others couldn't help cheering too, though he and Kairi exchanged shy glances at each other. But the most excited of the group were Matilda and Lulu, "Do you know what this means?"

"Snow White is getting' married!" Goofy said happily.

"No, it means that there is a way to reverse the potion! We can save Vincent!" Matilda cheered.

"Only problem is we have to find him first," Riku observed.

"Well, we're not going to leave without him," Sora said matter-of-factly.

Sora and the others returned to the queen's palace to find any trace of their Heartless friend. Aside from the broken tower from the fight and the skeletons of snakes, there was not sign that Vincent or the other Heartless had ever been there. Even his riffle was gone. There were no footprints or signs of destruction it was though Vincent had simply vanished into the shadows.

"Maybe Vincent isn't in this world anymore," Sora theorized, "I hate to say it, but Riku might be right,"

Matilda shook her head fervently, "No, Vincent is still in this world, I know it!"

"How can you be so sure?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, I just am. I can feel it, Vincent is still here, and he's still fighting the potion," Matilda said strangely.

After searching every square inch of the palace the group switched their search to the surrounding forest. A few broken branches gave them hope. By a river, Donald spotted something. Vincent was hunched against a rock, but was still not in his full Heartless state, like Matilda had said. He was normal size and a glazed-over indifferent look was in his still human-like red eyes. Lulu called out to the Heartless, "Vincent, can you hear me?"

The twisted being lifted his head and turned apathetically towards the sound of the noise. He slowly got up and shifted awkwardly over. No one was sure if he would attack or not and everyone stepped back slightly. Sora summoned his Keyblade, once it had helped his friend, maybe this time would work too. Matilda was only a few steps behind him and once again the Keyblade began glowing. Vincent shielded his eyes from the light, but unlike last time, showed no sign of change, his half-transformed state remained.

"It's not working!" Sora panicked, if the light did not help he feared he would have to attack his friend.

"It has to work!" Matilda sounded just as desperate.

"The prince awoke Snow White with a kiss. That might be the only was to reverse the potion," Lulu stepped forward and prepared to face Vincent.

"But he might take your heart!" Kairi warned.

"I am a Nobody, like Heartless we do not have hearts, but we can express emotion. He won't be able to hurt me," Lulu said confidently as she continued to approach the twisted man. He took a step back, his Heartless nature mistrusting and hating a Nobody, but Lulu did not back down. She walked closer and closer to Vincent until he was backed against the rock by the river. She grabbed his face gently and closed her eyes before kissing the Heartless on his forehead. A small amount of light passed from her purple shaded lips and Vincent's skin began to morph and lighten until a weak, tired looking man stood before Lulu.

"Vincent, are you alright?" Sora called out. Vincent clearly did not have the strength to speak but was able to nod his head. He collapsed onto his knees and began panting for air.

"Why'd you run off like that, pal?" Goofy asked, "We were plenty worried about you. You weren't worried you'd attack us again, did yeah?"

This time Vincent shook his head, "Someone was in my mind saying to come back. I was trying to fight the potion and that voice, I thought leaving the palace would help. I was barely able to hold on,"

"But you _were_ able to hold on," Donald pointed out, "Last time you lost all your humanity. You're getting stronger,"

Vincent barely shrugged, "I guess,"

The council of villains was not pleased with M after the wicked queen's demise. The most infuriated was the terrifying Horned King, the red robed being that had butted heads with M time and time before, "I warned you M, I told you one more failure and I would leave. I will not end like Ansem or DiZ, I will not tolerate failure and in the end be dragged into the darkness,"

"Oh ye of little faith," M remarked, "The girl's power is showing more and more but her memory is not coming back. And the Heartless man was nearly ours, he will not be able to survive another assault,"

"As of this moment M, another assault is not a concern of mine. We now part company. I will find a way to rule all worlds my way," the Horned King hissed.

"There is the door, friend. I must say I am sorry we won't be able to see this through the end together," M said nonchalantly. The king was taken aback that M wasn't going to stop him but without anymore hesitation the king left with the nervous green goblin in tow. M turned to see looks of concern and mistrust on the faces of the remaining villains, "Do any of you wish to join the king as well?"

"I am seriously considering it," Seymour said suddenly, "The failure of our predecessors is beginning to rear its ugly head,"

"I agree, and do you know why that is?" M said casually. None of the villains answered, "It is because our dearly departed comrades have not learned from the past and have made the same mistakes. Negaduck, the Queen, the Turks and you, my dear Seymour gave into their own weaknesses instead of working towards the greater good. You are doing exactly as I had warned you not to: you gave into your ego,"

"What are you accusing me of, M?" Seymour said indignantly.

"You used the God of Death as a puppet and then was shocked when he defeated you. Perhaps if you tried something less flashy, you could have gotten rid of those annoying warriors. The Turks chose to taunt the Heartless man instead of getting rid of him quietly. Negaduck cared more about ruling one small world instead of the possibility of ruling all worlds. And the queen gave into her vanity," M said drolly, "We are far closer to our goal than you think but we MUST work together, there is no getting around that. I am willing to do whatever it takes to join with Kingdom Hearts, I think it's time you started thinking whether or not you are willing to do the same,"

Seymour and the others were quiet for a moment, "I will do anything to become a Master of Death, I'm still in,"

"As am I," Sher Khan added.

"And you, Yzma?" M inquired.

"I am in this for the long haul," the outlandishly dressed old woman said, "But what about the Horned King, he could interfere,"

"I'm not worried about him. Even if he does interfere, he could end up doing more good for us than he realizes," M grinned wickedly.

The group prepared to leave the World of Ever After for their next destination. As Sora helped Donald and Goofy fine-tune the Gummi Ships the others went to gather food and supplies. Matilda and Piff went with Kairi and Riku and Lulu and Vincent went off in another direction. The Heartless and Nobody were more quiet than usual. And it was Lulu who finally broke the silence, "Are you sure you are all right? Nobody would have minded if you rested at the ships,"

"Heartless heal quickly, I'm fine," Vincent said in his normal curt manner. He added abruptly, "I never thanked you for helping me,"

"You don't need to," Lulu said matter-of-factly.

"No I do, you put yourself in danger, and I'm sure kissing a Heartless is not one of your goals in life," Vincent shrugged as he gathered some drinking water. Lulu didn't respond and Vincent looked at her to see why she didn't. She had an odd look on her face, "Something the matter?"

"I know our initial meeting was full of tension, but you're kindness has had me grow to care for you. I was very worried about you, Vincent," Lulu seemed to be feeling awkward, "Kissing you… was not as difficult for me as you might think,"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

Lulu walked straight up to Vincent and had her dark violet eyes meet his. Without saying anything she touched the side of his face with her hand and tipped his head down slightly before kissing him directly on the lips, "I love you, Vincent,"

Vincent gently placed his good hand on her shoulder and though his eyes showed no emotion whatsoever, his voice was very quiet, "Lulu, you know I can't feel the same way about you. I can't feel anything. You have been a good friend to me, and had I the power to care about you, I would. Don't waste your feelings for someone who can't love you back,"

"I understand that," Lulu stated. She reached behind her neck and removed her heart-shaped pendant and handed it to Vincent, "Love was able to bring Snow White's heart back. Kissing you broke the spell, but I hoped love would bring back your heart too. I may have only existed a few years, but I am not a child. So even if you can't have your heart back, at least know you have mine,"

Vincent took the pendant from Lulu and tucked it under his cape and shrugged. Lulu couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly there was a loud shrieking echoing through the woods. Riku, Kairi and Matilda ran through as fast as they could. Vincent called out to the runners, "Hey, what's going on?"

Riku did not mince words, "There's something after us! Run!"


	25. Divide and Conquer

Chapter Twenty-four Divide and Conquer

Lulu and Vincent began to question what Riku meant as he disappeared between the trees, but the answer came upon them quickly. Three or four large winged dragons were ripping through the woods, clearly chasing Matilda and the others. Seeing the danger, Vincent motioned to Lulu to start running too. He pulled out his shotgun and began firing at the dragons, but his cartridges bounced harmlessly off their scaly hides. Vincent may not have been frightened, but he certainly wasn't stupid. He threw the gun back onto his back and began running after his other friends.

The Heartless broke through the clearing where the Gummi Ships stood and Riku was trying frantically to convey to Sora, Donald and Goofy the immense danger they were in, "Sora, we've got to get out of here, now!"

"But if these things are as bad as you say they are, they could go after someone," Sora argued, still oblivious.

"They are going after someone! US!" Riku roared, "Sora, quit being a dimwit. This is not the time to give in to your stupid heroics!"

"The kid's right," Vincent began but before he could say more the massive dragons had caught up to them. Sora's eyes widened in terror as it dawned on him how accurate Riku had been. The group was almost paralyzed in fear. The only one unaffected was Vincent and he began commanding people around. He grabbed the Keyblade Master and Matilda and threw them into a Gummi Ship, "Everyone, get ready to get out of here,"

Not paying attention, the group shuffled into the nearest Gummi Ship they could reach and within seconds they had launched themselves into the air and began maneuvering to escape the world. In their confusion, Sora, Kairi, Matilda, Piff, Lulu and Goofy had packed into the Excalibur while Vincent, Donald and Riku had ended up in the Seaduck II. They began radioing each other to make sure no one was left behind. But the moment of peace was suddenly interrupted when Sora felt a hit against the side of the Gummis. Launching into the air did not elude their attackers. Somehow, the dragons were following them.

"Dragons can fly in Innerspace?!" Sora squawked. The dragons were launching fireballs that were badly damaging the exterior of the Gummi Ships.

"Looks that way! Do these things have guns on them?" Riku called across the screen.

"Cid built them, so I'm guessing there are," Goofy replied.

"Then what are we doing quivering in fear! We've got to fight back!" Donald searched the Seaduck II for the weapon buttons. It didn't take long for either rocket to find the weapons systems and start firing at the dragons. Though the bullets back on World of Ever After had no effect on the giant flying lizards, the lasers were quite efficient in taking out the monsters. After some near misses and close calls the dragons that had attacked them were gone.

"Ha! That's what you get for messing with the Keyblade Master!" Sora said cockily. From the radio in the other ship Donald began quacking desperately and suddenly, the light that filled the sky disappeared. Sora looked out the windshield to see a dragon three times larger than the ones that had chased them flying through Interspace. The color from Sora's face drained, "Uh-oh, spoke too soon,"

"What is that thing?" Lulu said awestruck.

"Trouble," Vincent replied. He told them to get out of the airspace and go into warp-drive as the giant dragon began opening its mouth. The ships hummed and started picking up speed as a massive fireball escaped the dragon's jaws. Just as they entered warp-drive the fireball slammed into the Seaduck II and the Excalibur, pushing the two ships through the sky. The Seaduck took the majority of the hit and began breaking apart.

"No!" Sora screamed as Lulu tried desperately to go back and save Vincent, Riku and Donald, but the momentum of the fireball sent them out of control. Helplessly, the Excalibur flew further and further away from the wreckage of the Seaduck II.

"No!" Sora screamed out and fell onto the floor. It was the same dream he had for a week straight now.

Ever since the Excalibur crashed onto Kuzcotopia.

After the disaster with the dragon, the Excalibur landed roughly on a mountain in the middle of a jungle. A peasant man named Pacha and his family took in Sora, Goofy, Kairi, Lulu Matilda and Piff when they climbed back down. And for a solid week the warriors were recovering and for a solid week he had the same dream: over and over he'd see the Seaduck II breaking apart into little pieces, the fate of his friends unknown. Sora climbed off of the floor back onto the bed and stared at his feet, doing everything in his power not to cry, "Riku, Donald, Vincent,"

The names of his oldest friend, one of his closest allies and his newest hero echoed emptily from Sora's lips. He looked around to find Goofy still asleep in his room, and had assumed Lulu, Matilda and Kairi were also still asleep. He grabbed a shirt and dressed with the traditional clothing of the world Pacha had given him. He went down the stairs of the small wooden house to find Pacha's wife cooking and Matilda sitting at the table with Piff nuzzling her hopefully. "Good morning, Sora," she said hollowly. It was clear she was just as miserable as he was.

"Hey," Sora said unenthusiastically. He called out to Pacha's pregnant wife, "Is there anything you'd like me to do this morning?"

"Oh Sora, you and your friends have been so helpful this week. I don't think there are any more chores for you guys to do around here," she said cheerfully, "You are our guests, just rest this morning,"

Doing chores around Pacha's home was the only thing to take his mind off of his loss. He turned to the black and white haired girl, "Hey Matilda, I know this has been really hard, but it's been a week. I think it's time we start searching this world to see whether or not this is your world. We can't stay at Pacha's forever,"

"I know," Matilda said sadly, "But I miss them so much. I hope they're okay. There's a chance they made it out alive, right?"

I hope so, Sora thought to himself, "Of course. If you've known Riku as long as I have you'd know this is just a small scrape compared to the stuff we've done as kids. And Donald knows strong magic. And I might not know Vincent as well as you do, Matilda, but he's not the kind of guy to just give up," Lulu, Kairi and Goofy came down the stairs yawning. Sora called out to them, "Hey guys, we're looking for Matilda's world today,"

"I think that's wise," Lulu said severely. Just as everyone was getting to know her softer side, Lulu began acting cold and soulless again. And she developed a strange habit of rubbing her collarbone where her necklace once was.

From outside a bulking man with dark skin, hair and eyes with a hat and dark green poncho came stomping into the house. On his face was a look of anger and a piece of paper was clenched in his fist. Goofy scratched his chin, "Pacha, somethin' the matter?"

"They're going to take our mountain! And tear down our house!" Pacha said angrily.

His wife dropped the dish she was washing and stormed over to where her husband was standing, "What! I thought that business had ended when Kuzco died!"

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"Kuzco was the arrogant young emperor who ruled this world. About four months ago he told us he was going to seize our land so he could build his summer palace. But after he died mysteriously we thought our home was safe," Pacha explained before presenting the piece of paper he was holding, "Now I just got this letter delivered saying Empress Yzma is going to do the same thing!"

"What are we going to do, Pacha?" his wife asked.

"I'm going back to the palace and give that ugly old bat a piece of my mind!" Pacha said determinedly.

"We're going with you!" Sora suddenly announced.

"You don't need to do that," Pacha said.

"Yes we do!" Kairi added, "No one has the right to take away your home for selfish reasons. A ruler has the obligation to take care of their people, not use and push them around,"

"I thought we were going to find if Matilda's family is from here," Lulu said matter-of-factly.

Matilda shook her head, "We can find my family any old time, but they're going to tear Mr. Pacha's house down now!"

Without anymore argument Pacha gathered his llamas and he and the others headed for the palace of Empress Izma. They stuck together as they made the dangerous trek through the wild rain forest, which was full of crocodiles and jaguars. But in the midst of their journey, no one noticed the red and black llama that had been following them.

"Kronk, what can be so important that we had to come back here. I told you, Kuzcotopia was only the beginning. Speaking of which, I think we need to switch the name over to Yzmatopia," Yzma had been complaining ever since left M's world to return to her original world.

"Yzmatopia, has a nice ring to it," Kronk said thoughtfully, "Well, the guys there have told me that someone is at the palace and won't go away until they talk to you,"

"Oh! M is down on everyone's case because we lost track of that brat and her twerp friends and instead of looking for her and I'm stuck having to deal with petty real estate issues," Yzma absently filed her nails, "Which one is this again?"

"The summer palace on the hill, I think," Kronk scrunched his eyebrows to remember.

"Right, right, right, I remember now," Yzma waved her hand, "So we tell the peasant 'no' and we go back to look for the girl,"

"Can't we stop for dinner?" Kronk said hopefully.

"Oh, we don't have time for that!" Yzma snapped.

"Please?" Kronk begged.

"Oh fine, maybe we'll stop for a quick cup of coffee, maybe something a la carte. But don't try asking for the specials or I'll change my mind,"

"Okay, you thinking Chinese or Mexican?"

"Meh, we had Mexican recently and I'm sick of Chinese. Let's try that new Thai place,"

"Sounds good," Kronk parked the Gummi Ship on a side of a mountain so no one could see it. Before heading to the main part of the palace Yzma stopped by her lab and changed into full empress regalia. She stomped through the stairs to go to the throne room, and by the time she reached it, she was in a considerably worse mood.

"Empress Yzma…" Pacha began. They had waited three hours for an audience with her.

"I already know what you're going to ask and the answer is no. The summer palace is going there, I already decided," Yzma said haughtily, "It was the last command of that creep—er beloved Emperor Kuzco. And after all the work I've done for this world, don't you think I _deserve_ to have a summer palace?"

"That land has been in my family for generations, it's my home!" Pacha begged.

"There are some nice condos in the city," Yzma shrugged.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sora blurted out. It was the first time Yzma noticed there were more people in the room, and the fact that it was the Keyblade Master took the old woman aback. She began scanning the room to see who else was there and her eyes locked with a girl who had one red eye and one blue eye.

"Y-you!" Yzma blurted.

"Me?" Matilda said innocently, cocking her head to the side like an animal, "Do you know who I am?"


	26. Llama Drama

Chapter Twenty-five Llama Drama

Yzma couldn't believe her fortune, standing in front of her, completely clueless as to who she was, was the girl she and M had been after for weeks. A plan started formulating in her devious mind. Yzma changed her tone from utter surprise to utter delight, "Why of course I know who you are darling! Don't tell me you don't remember your old granny!"

Sora's jaw dropped, "Are you telling me that you are Matilda's grandmother?!"

"Hey, how can you have a granddaughter? You don't even have kids," Kronk whispered to Yzma.

Yzma jabbed her elbow into his gut, "Shut up!" she hissed before turning her attention back to Sora and the others, "Of course, we were so worried when she went missing. First the emperor dies and then my beloved granddaughter disappears. She went missing weeks ago, we were beginning to lose hope,"

Lulu was highly skeptical and stared at Yzma hard with her deep violet eyes, "You two don't look very much alike,"

Yzma began to get a little nervous, "She looks more like her father,"

"Then what is her real name?" Lulu persisted harshly.

"Umm…" Yzma knew she had to think fast, "Amzy, of course,"

"I think you are lying," Lulu said matter-of-factly.

"You dare accuse the Empress of Kuzcotopia of lying?" Yzma said abashed.

"You have to understand, Empress," Sora explained, "That a lot of bad people have been after her. We want her to be safe, a lot counts on her survival. If you know something about her that no one but a close family member knows, then we'll know you're telling the truth,"

Yzma couldn't argue that logic, but had to think of something. She did know much about Matilda, M had told her everything the being knew but she couldn't think of what she could say without giving away her real plans with the girl. Suddenly, she had a stroke of inspiration, "On her chest is a birthmark that looks like a lock for a key,"

Sora turned to Matilda. Unlike Vincent and the others of Hollow Bastion, he did not know she had that mark. Matilda began nodding her head happily and squeezed Piff close to her chest, "That's right! I do have a mark there. Grandma!"

Matilda ran over to Yzma's waiting arms, "Amzy, I am so glad to have you back, shnookems,"

Sora, Kairi and Goofy were happy over the tender moment, though Lulu still seemed mistrusting. After the moment of love and affection Sora asked, "Now that we know where Matilda—er Amzy really is from, maybe you can answer some nagging questions we still have. If you can you would be saving the worlds,"

"Of course," Yzma said smugly, she never dreamed the Keyblade Master would be more stupid than Kronk.

"If she's from here, why do the Heartless keep coming after her?" Sora asked innocently.

Yzma just about fell from her throne. She had to keep up her quick thinking, "Isn't it obvious? If she is my granddaughter that makes her a princess. It is well known that Heartless always go after people with really strong hearts, and those with the strongest hearts are usually princesses,"

Sora had to agree. But after being ignored for so long, Pacha finally spoke up again, "Excuse me, Empress, but what about my house?"

"Oh fine, fine, fine!" Yzma began sounding irritable again, "You can keep you're stupid land. Now everybody get out so I can catch up with my granddaughter!"

Lulu opened her mouth to argue, but before she could the guards ushered her and the others out of the throne room. Sora, Kairi and Goofy tried to say goodbye to Matilda, but Yzma and Kronk had already led her out of the room through another door. Pacha was thrilled to know he wouldn't lose his home, but Sora and the others couldn't help feeling a little bit sad. They lingered outside the palace gates as Pacha packed his llama, humming happily as he worked.

"I'm going to miss her," Kairi sighed, "She was a really sweet girl. But it's nice to know she's back where she belongs,"

"I agree. But now that she's home I suppose we should go back to Magic Kingdom and tell King Mickey all about it," Sora said, sounding quite apathetic, "It's just such a shame we had to lose Donald, Riku and Vincent, just when we were so close to finding her home,"

"Don't worry Sora. We'll find them," Goofy patted Sora's back sympathetically as they began to head back to Pacha's home. They looked at the palace one last time before following the peasant into the deep jungle.

"How can you three be so stupid!" Kairi, Sora and Goofy stopped and turned around. Lulu had fallen behind and was looking infuriated, her stuffed animal hanging in her hand.

Sora was confused, "Lulu, what's the matter?"

"You can't tell me you're seriously considering leaving Matilda with that woman?" Lulu, "She was obviously lying!"

Sora tried to be sympathetic, "Lulu, I know you're going to miss Amzy most because you knew her the longest out of all of us, but this is her real home. How else could Yzma have known about the birthmark? Did you know she had it?"

Lulu didn't say anything at first, "Well, I didn't. But that doesn't change anything, there is something wrong about all of this. I don't think we should leave her there!"

"Come on Lulu, we need to start rebuilding the ship," Sora sighed. Lulu knew they were not going to go back for Matilda. She looked back to where they had just come, hesitated slightly and finally caught up to the others. But she looked even grimmer than the others had thought possible.

The group followed Pacha only a few hundred feet when they heard what sounded like a little girl screaming. From the brush up ahead, a red and black llama came running out, chased by half a dozen panthers. The panthers lost interest in the one llama and decided they'd get more of a meal with the peasant, Pacha's llama and the four warriors. Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and Goofy used his shield. Within a few minutes the creatures were destroyed.

The red and black llama that the panthers had originally chased was standing against a tree with its knees wobbling, looking as though it was about to cry. Sora couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor creature. Banishing his blade, the Keyblade Master gently approached the animal and tried to pet it, "It's okay fella, you're safe now,"

The llama spotted Sora's hand approaching his head and changed expressions. It reared up on its back legs and did a kung-fu-like move, "Hey! Hey! Hey! No touchy!"

"Wah?" Sora blinked. Pacha's llama let out a cry and jumped into the man's arms. Everyone just stared at the animal, "D-did you just talk?"

"Well duh, of course I talked," the llama rolled his eyes.

Goofy turned to Pacha, "Do llamas talk in this world?"

Pacha didn't say anything, all he did was shake his head. The llama used his hooves to massage his temples, "Oh geez. Of course llamas don't talk in this world. I am _not_ a llama,"

Sora cocked his head, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I used to be human!" the llama snapped, "But it's this _peasant's_ fault that I lost my beautiful body!"

A look of recognition flashed on Pacha's face, "I-it's impossible! Emperor Kuzco?!"

"Uh, yeah," the llama said snarkily.

"Wait, the emperor that died four months ago?" Lulu recalled.

Goofy asked the peasant man, "You didn't try to hurt Kuzco, did you?"

"Of course not!" Pacha got over his shock and became angry.

"Liar!" Kuzco snapped back, "You came to the palace all wah-wah-wah because I was going to build my palace where your lousy shack is and when I said I wouldn't change my mind you kidnapped me and turned me into a llama. I've been stuck on your miserable farm for four months, you devious jerk you!"

"That's not true!" Pacha argued.

"Are you saying you weren't angry at me?" Kuzco accused.

"Of course I was angry! My family's been on that land for generations, my wife is going to have a child soon, and you wanted to just kick me off of it because you needed a sunny place to be!" Pacha snarled.

"Ha! Hear that? He just about confessed," Kuzco smirked, "Now let's all go to the palace now so the peasant can turn himself in and be in jail for the rest of his life and Yzma can give my back my bodacious bod,"

"You mean Empress Yzma?" Sora asked.

"Nooo…" Kuzco said in a patronizing tone, "I mean my advisor Yzma. You must be talking about a different Yzma, some evil clone or something,"

"I doubt that's possible," Lulu stated drolly.

Kuzco turned back to Sora, "Is the woman you talked to older than dinosaurs, has really bad taste and is scary beyond all reason?"

Sora paused for a moment and thought about the outlandishly dressed woman he had met in the palace, "Yeah, that's how I'd describe her,"

"But that doesn't make sense! How could my advisor be the empress? I'm the Emperor!" the llama whined.

"Your advisor took over as Empress when everybody thought you were dead," Pacha said matter-of-factly.

"That's impossible, she wouldn't do that. She'd look for me as soon as she realized I was missing," Kuzco said confidently.

"She was the one who told us you were dead," Pacha continued.

"And you just believed her? You just let her take over and not fight back for your rightful Emperor? No one looked for me?" Kuzco whimpered.

"No one missed you," Pacha said bluntly, "It was a relief to hear you were dead. You were a terrible Emperor, you were a spoiled jerk who did everything for himself without worrying about how his decisions would affect his people,"

Kuzco's ears drooped, "I-I don't believe you!"

"Believe what you want," Pacha shrugged, "C'mon guys, we should get back home before it gets dark,"

Sora and the others glanced at Kuzco momentarily, debating whether they should say anything or not. The llama sat in disbelief and said quietly, "Even Yzma didn't miss me?" Suddenly his eyes got wide and he called back to Pacha, "Hey you, peasant dude! You're right, you weren't the one to kidnap me!"

Pacha stopped and turned around, "Well, I'm glad you finally believe something I said,"

"Four months ago, Yzma invited me to dinner to talk about something—I don't really remember since I wasn't paying attention, but she gave me a toast. I drank the wine she gave me and when I woke up, I was a llama, and I was outside you're farm. Yzma must have been the one to turn me into a llama! I should have known…ever since she talked to that M guy"

"What!" Sora suddenly became interested, "Did you say 'M',"

"Yeah, what about it?" Kuzco cocked his head.

"If Yzma is working with M that means…" Goofy began.

"That Matilda is in serious danger!" Lulu gasped.

"Let's go to the palace right now and get my throne back!" Kuzco said confidently.

"We've got to rescue Matilda," Sora stated.

"What about my throne?"

"What about it?" Kairi asked.

"Well, you need to help me get it back," Kuzco stated as though it was perfectly obvious.

"That's not our problem, especially if you are as big a jerk as we've heard. Kicking poor Pacha off his land," Sora scoffed.

"Okay fine, if you help me get back my throne, I'll build my summer palace somewhere else. I promise," Kuzco sounded genuinely sincere, but no one knew he crossed his hooves behind his back.

"If that's the case and you're being truthful, I'll help too," Pacha stated.

"What are we waiting for, Matilda needs us!" Lulu announced.


	27. The Usurped Throne

Chapter Twenty-six The Usurped Throne

"Grandma, what were my parents like? What was my favorite food? Did we visit you a lot?" Matilda continued her barrage of innocent questions towards Yzma, and the old woman's nerves were beginning to wear thin.

"Listen sweetie, granny has a lot to do right now, so why don't you go off and play?" Yzma said wearily.

"But you told Sora and the others that you wanted to spend time with me," Matilda reminded her.

Caught in her lie Yzma thought fast, "This stuff came up just now and is very important. Ruling a world isn't easy, you know. But I promise we _will_ spend lots and lots of time together,"

"Okay," Matilda said sadly. She watched Yzma and Kronk walk off to wherever they were going to go and sighed. She sat on one of the decorative ornaments that filled the palace and let Piff fly around her. She confided into the little creature, "Even though this is the place I'm supposed to be, I still don't remember anything. I was hoping talking to Grandma would bring something back, but nothing has. And she's off and busy. I miss Sora and the others," Piff made a little neigh in agreement, "But I _really_ miss Vincent. I hoped I'd be able to say goodbye to him before going home. And I promised to help get his heart back too…"

Kuzco led Sora and the others up a different side of the mountain than they originally had gone up. In his llama shape, the former emperor had no problem trekking up the steep cliffs, but Sora and the others began lagging behind. Sora leaned on his Keyblade for support and wheezed, "Why are we going this way? We didn't have to do this much climbing the first time we came to the palace,"

"Hello, since Yzma was the one that did this to me, she's not going to let us into the palace if we go the normal way," Kuzco pointed out, "Besides, I know a back way into her secret lab dealy,"

"I sure hope he knows what he's doin'," Goofy whispered to Sora.

"See there it is," Kuzco pointed with a hoof towards a cavern with a Gummi Ship parked next to it.

"A Gummi Ship," Kairi observed, "There's no doubt now Yzma's working with M. I just hope Matilda is all right,"

Yzma couldn't help cackling with glee when she and Kronk arrived at a wall carving that looked like a wild pig. With much gusto she ordered, "Kronk, pull the lever!" Kronk obeyed and pulled on one of the pig's tusks—and a trap door opened up right under where Yzma had been standing, sending her down below, "WRONG LEVER!" A few seconds later she returned, sopping wet and with a large crocodile biting her, "Why do we even have that lever?"

Kronk shrugged, "I think it was cheaper to install with that package,"

"Oh yes, I remember now," Yzma nodded and commanded again, "Kronk, pull the _other_ lever,"

Kronk obeyed and pulled the opposite tusk. The wall carving flipped over, sending Yzma and her assistant into the car of what seemed like a roller coaster. A safety bar snapped down over them and a voice cheerfully said, "Welcome to the secret lab entry ride, please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times," Yzma slicked back the feathers of her hat and the roller coaster sent the two through a few loops before they landed on their feet, wearing lab coats and sunglasses. Yzma walked over to her cabinet and began looking inside.

"Hey, since we've got the girl, aren't we supposed to contact M?" Kronk asked.

"Oh forget M! I found the girl, why should I share her power with a lot of bumbling idiots?" Yzma gestured irritably. Kronk seemed to have a puppy-dog look on his face, "Well, of course I'm going to share with you, I mean _those_ bumbling idiots, not my own. All that remains now is creating a method for extracting some power, and that could take some time,"

"So what do you need me to do?" Kronk asked eagerly.

"You can make me those spinach puffs, the ones with the mango chutney," Yzma replied as she pulled labeled bottles from the cabinet and began mixing them on her chemistry table. Kronk nodded and jogged off to make her request.

Kronk entered the kitchen cheerfully and put on his apron and chef's hat before pulling out the ingredients to make Yzma's food. He did not notice the teenage girl and pegasus that had come in after him. He hummed his own theme music as he began whipping together the cream cheese and egg yolks for the spinach puff stuffing. "What are you doing?"

Kronk spun around to see Matilda was standing right behind him, "Oh, um, I'm making lunch for Yzma to bring to her secret lab—er I mean study,"

"Can I help? Miss Lulu showed me how to cook, though I'm still not very good at it yet," Matilda asked innocently.

"You like to cook?" Kronk asked in surprise.

"Sure, maybe you can teach me some more stuff. All I know how to do right now is stew," Matilda picked up a spoon and waited eagerly for Kronk to show her what to do. Kronk couldn't help but like the girl, and began showing her how to cook the spinach to the perfect consistency for the puffs. After the puffs were in the oven and they began cutting the mangos for chutney, "Hey, how do you know my grandmother anyway, did you know my father too?"

"Ah, no," Kronk said awkwardly, "I'm afraid I didn't know your father, I'm Yzma's beefy minion,"

"Minion?"

"Oh yeah, it's not as bad as it sounds. You get great dental and Yzma is probably my best friend," Kronk explained. A timer dinged indicating the puffs were done, "Ah, we better get those, they taste the best five to ten minutes after coming out of the oven. I'm going to bring them to Yzma now,"

"I'll come with you!" Matilda said brightly. She trotted after Kronk with Piff flittering behind her and carrying the chutney. Kronk didn't think as he led Matilda directly to Yzma's secret lab. The evil old woman was cackling as she continued to mix her ingredients.

"Just a little more time and I'll drain that girl like a soda can," She snickered. She turned around to see Kronk with her food, "Good, you brought the puffs, perfect timing—"

Yzma froze when she saw Matilda down with Kronk. On the teen girl's face was a look of confusion and terror. Kronk seemed oblivious, "We were out of chives, I hope you don't mind rosemary instead,"

"KRONK YOU IMBECILE!" Yzma screeched, "What is the girl doing down here in my lab!"

"She wanted to help make lunch," It suddenly struck Kronk what he did wrong, "Oh right, now I remember,"

"Grandma, what did you mean when you said 'drain that girl like a soda can,'" Matilda said fearfully, the tray she was holding began shaking.

"N-nothing dear," Yzma laughed nervously. Matilda began to back away as the old woman approached her before turning tail and running. Yzma yelled to Kronk, "Don't just stand there, get her!"

Piff flew in the large man's face, giving Matilda a chance to escape. But when it was clear the minion would be unable to catch her, Yzma ran after her herself. The old woman was in much better shape than she looked and grabbed Matilda by a wrist. But before she could get a better grip on the girl the woman was hit in the face by a shield.

"Nice shot Goofy!" Sora called over from the alternate entry of the lab. Goofy skillfully caught his shield as it flew back to him like a boomerang.

"Sora!" Matilda said happily and ran over to the Keyblade Master, throwing herself on him. She glanced back to Yzma, who was still dazed by Goofy's shield, "That woman is NOT my grandmother,"

"I'm so sorry, Matilda. We should have never left you here, Lulu was right," Sora said humbly before noticing Kronk and Yzma was after them again, "C'mon, let's go, the other are still waiting outside,"

Grabbing Matilda's hand, Sora running with Goofy and Piff not far behind. At the entrance Pacha, Lulu, Kairi and Kuzco were waiting and upon seeing Sora running called out irritably to the Keyblade Master, "Hey, where do you think you're going!"

"Later Kuzco," Sora called without looking back, "We've got to get out of here before the guards come!"


	28. The Emperor's New Attitude

Chapter Twenty-seven The Emperor's New Attitude

Pacha's wife Chaka was not thrilled when he returned home from the palace. Not because he failed in stopping Yzma's plan to tear down their house, or that Yzma was now after them, but because the spoiled emperor that had caused the whole mess was making demand after demand despite their hospitality. After Kuzco made one last comment about how she washed dishes, she had enough, "Pacha, I don't care who he used to be, that llama has crossed the line for the last time!"

"I know dear, but if we help him out, we'll get to keep our home," Pacha tried to sooth his irritable spouse, "I know this is hard, honey, but we need to keep hidden from Yzma,"

"Fine," Chaka sighed, "But I don't know how much longer I can keep my good sense of humor,"

Pacha's little son and daughter came scampering into the kitchen, looking somewhat excited and confused, "Dad! Dad! There's this really old lady outside and she says she's family and wants to come in,"

Pacha frowned, "I don't remember any relatives saying they would be coming. What did this lady look like?"

"Well, she's really, really, really, really old. And she was travelling with this really beefy guy," Pacha's daughter paused a moment, "And she's really scary too. Scary beyond all reason,"

"The Empress!" Pacha gasped, "She must have found us. We've got to get Kuzco and the others out of here!"

Chaka sighed and pecked her husband on the cheek, "Don't worry, I'll distract her. You get that spoiled llama out of here and I'll take care of the rest,"

Pacha smiled and ran upstairs to warn the others. As they sneaked out the back Chaka greeted Yzma out the front. Yzma was standing irritably on the front stoop, regarding Pacha's pleasant, if small, house as though it were a shack. Chaka greeted Yzma pleasantly, "Hello, can I help you? My son and daughter said you're a relative of Pacha's,"

"Um, yes, I'm his great aunt," Yzma said coolly, "Is he around? It's rather important that I talk to him,"

Chaka pursed her lips in mock disappointment to suppress the laugh that was building in her gut, "Oh, I'm sorry, you _just_ missed him. He's taken our herd up into the high mountains,"

Yzma cast a skeptical eye at the pregnant woman before her. But Chaka merely looked back innocently, as though she was oblivious to any kind of trouble that was brewing. But when Chaka's cheerful smile didn't crack, Yzma sighed, "Fine, we'll go look for him,"

"Oh, you don't need to do that," Chaka said graciously, opening her door further to invite Yzma and Kronk inside, "I was just preparing lunch for the kids, and a gracious old lady like you shouldn't be trudging around the mountains in this heat. Why don't you join us. I'm sure Pacha will be back in a little while,"

Yzma opened her mouth to argue, but at the idea of having lunch, Kronk became excited, "Ooh, that would be so nice of you. Hauling Yzma all over the place is not easy,"

The empress thought about convincing Kronk otherwise, but realized her cover would be blown and agreed to lunch. Chaka escorted the two into the living room and sat them at the table, "I'll have lunch in a few minutes," She said sweetly, before stepping into the kitchen and chuckling. She called over her children and bent down to their level to whisper to them, "You know all the things mommy and daddy tell you not to do during dinner because they are rude?"

"Yeah mom!" the little girl piped.

"Well, today you have special permission to do all those things to Auntie Yzma," Chaka winked to her children and ushered them to the living room before returning to her cooking. Though she could not see what was happening she could hear her two children running around and annoying the Empress to death. If she was have to tolerate the horrible woman who continued to threaten to destroy her home, she was going to have fun.

"Man, oh, man, what are we going to do?" Sora said as he ran his fingers through his hair, "We can't keep running from Yzma like this. And we can't escape Kuzcotopia without a working Gummi Ship,"

After Pacha's warning, Sora, Kairi, Lulu, Goofy, Matilda and Kuzco ran back into the thick dangerous jungle. Everybody realized Sora was right, they had to think of a way to stop Yzma if there was any hope of Matilda being safe. They stood quiet in thought as they tried to come up with a plan when suddenly Kuzco blurted out, "Hello, there is an obvious way to stop all of this,"

"What's that?" Goofy asked.

"In case everyone's forgotten, I _am_ the rightful emperor, even if no one likes me," Kuzco shot a dirty look to Pacha, "If I get turned back into a human I can reclaim my throne and throw that old bat into the dungeon. Problem solved,"

Sora laughed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Because you've been such an annoying animal I forgot that you really _are_ emperor,"

Kuzco started to open his mouth when Lulu commented, "But won't this mean going back to the palace? The dangerous one we barely escaped already?"

"It shouldn't be as dangerous with Yzma not there," Pacha reminded them, "And Chaka will distract them as long as we need her to,"

Knowing the palace gates would be surrounded by guards, Kuzco took them back up the way by Yzma's Gummi Ship. But when they arrived they were in for a disappointment. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Kuzco said, throwing a tantrum. Since escaping, the secret entrance had been blocked with dozens of large boulders.

"How are we going to get in now?" Matilda looked to Sora and the others for answers.

"I-I don't know," Sora replied.

"Oh, I'm not giving up this easily! I'm getting my gorgeous bod back!" Kuzco snarled and whipped around to face Sora, "There aren't any more entrances into the Secret Lab from the outside, but I know Yzma has an entrance inside the palace,"

"But won't that mean going through the gates?" Kairi asked.

Kuzco shook his head, "There's a way into the palace. But it's really far off from here, it's a really dangerous trek, I've never used it before personally,"

"But you know where it is?" Sora asked.

"You bet,"

"Then let's go," Sora said summoning his Keyblade and spinning it around.

Kuzco wasn't lying when he said the trek to the palace's secret entrance was dangerous. Not only was it greatly out of the way in the mountains, to get to those mountains meant going through the most dangerous jungle of Kuzcotopia. Already, they had faced crocodiles, giant bugs and yet another team of panthers. After fending off another attack Sora voiced his frustration, "Why would this stupid entrance be this far out, anyway?"

Kuzco didn't seem in any better shape than anyone else. The pampered emperor was not used to being outside for so long and was getting scared, "I don't know! I didn't build the stupid palace, I only live there," Kuzco sighed and drooped his head, "I can't wait until I'm human again and can build my summer palace on that peasant's mountain. Then I can build it however I want!"

"What did you say?" Pacha asked, overhearing the emperor's personal thoughts. Kuzco realized what he let slip out of his mouth and covered his mouth with a hoof, "You said you're still building your summer palace? You promised, you promised if we help you, you wouldn't build it on my mountain," The peasant said in disbelief.

"I had to say _something_ to get you to help me. Besides, it's not like you're being all charitable about this anyway. That Keyblade Master kid only wanted to save the weird girl, and you wanted something from me anyway," Kuzco shrugged.

Pacha couldn't believe how nonchalant Kuzco was being about lying and couldn't hold back his fury, "We're keeping our end of the bargain! We could have turned you over to Yzma at anytime. You promised!"

"Well, that's what you get for being a sucker. And now that we're so close to the secret entrance, I don't need you anymore!" The llama laughed and began dashing into the deep forest.

"No!" Sora cried out and called back to the others, "We've got to follow him! We need him to stop Yzma and Kuzco might hurt himself or get caught!"

"That ungrateful beast of burden double-crossed us and you're still concerned about his safety?" Lulu spat as she ran to catch up with the Keyblade Master. As much as they tried though, they eventually lost Kuzco. His llama body had too much advantage in running and after zipping past a large rock, Sora lost sight of him.

"So what do we do know?" Kairi turned to Sora. Sora looked down at the ground with an angry expression on his face.

"We have to keep looking for him," Sora marched forward, retracing his steps around the last rock he saw him around. He stepped on a bush and suddenly disappeared.

"Sora!" Kairi called out to the boy and after stepping near where he disappeared, she vanished too.

"What in the world?" Lulu raised an eyebrow. She, Matilda, Goofy and Pacha approached the same area carefully, but began hearing the unmistakable sound of cracking wood. What they thought was a bush was actually the top of a tree.

A tree that was at the edge of a waterfall.

Kuzco stared at the ground muttering and cursing Pacha and the others. After escaping Sora's pursuit he had become lost and was trying desperately to rediscover his path and find the entrance.

"Stupid peasant," Kuzco grumbled, "Getting me lost like this. Did he really expect a cool emperor like me to do a favor for a nobody like him? Then again, I **did** promise I'd help, and I would be pretty stuck without them. Ew, what is this gross tight feeling in my chest?" Kuzco rubbed his chest in hopes that the pangs of his gnawing guilt would go away.

"Help! Somebody help us!" a voice screamed frantically. Kuzco's ears perked up to the noise.

"Hey, I think that's them," the llama observed, "Sounds like they are in trouble, I should see what's wrong. Yzma might have found us or something," Following the sound, Kuzco could see a waterfall up ahead. On a weakening branch that would break at any second, Sora, Pacha, Goofy, Kairi, Matilda and Lulu were clinging to each other, with Piff flittering around frantically. Without hesitation Kuzco ran over to the cliff with the branch attached and grabbed a bigger stronger stick in his mouth and held it over the edge.

Hearing something above him, the terrified Sora opened his eyes to see a red and black llama lowering a branch, "Kuzco?" The boy said in disbelief. The llama nodded and motioned with his head for the Keyblade master to grab on. Sora nodded and grabbed Matilda's hand. Grabbing onto the branch, Matilda pulled herself up, and one by one Kuzco brought up the group.

When Pacha pulled himself up, Kuzco dropped the stick and looked over the cliff to taunt the waterfall, "Ha ha! Think you could beat me, you stupid rock and water formation? I'm the emperor of Kuzcotopia!" The llama began strutting around in triumph, and soon noticed the dumbstruck look on the other's faces, "What?"

"Y-you came back," Pacha said in shock, "And you saved our lives!"

Kuzco paused in surprise and perked his ears up happily, "Hey, I guess I did! And that icky tight feeling in my chest is gone too,"

"That feeling was probably guilt," Goofy observed, "You knew you did the wrong thing and felt bad about it,"

"That's guilt?" the emperor shuttered, "Ew, I don't want to feel that again,"

Feeling it would be smart to get away from the cliff and the waterfall, Sora and the others returned up the side of the mountain by the large rock where they first lost Kuzco. Everyone was happy to be alive and chatted away but the llama was unusually quiet.

"Hey peasant—I mean, Pacha," Kuzco began quietly.

"Yeah?" Pacha asked curiously.

"I'm sorry. For everything," Kuzco ground his hoof into the dirt, "I'm sorry for being such an ungrateful jerk. And for trying to take your mountain. I really do like it though, and your family is really nice. So I was wondering would it be okay if I'd come over for summer?"

Pacha paused a moment and smiled, "I'd be honored,"

The man and the llama shook their respective limbs but Lulu reminded them of their current situation, "I'm afraid you won't be able to spend any summers if you aren't human, Emperor Kuzco,"

"That's right," Sora agreed, "So where is that secret entrance?"

"Right here," The emperor tapped his hoof on the large rock they kept circling. Together they pushed it to the side, revealing a tunnel paved with expertly cut stones. They followed the tunnel until it started sloping up and finally stopped.

"It's a dead end," Matilda sighed.

"Oh no it's not!" Kuzco took a few steps back and using his head like a battering ram, slammed against the wall, causing a perfect rectangle tile to pop out, "See?" Kuzco said, still a little dizzy from the blow to the head.

Sora stepped out of the tunnel first with his Keyblade ready and looked around for guards. The room was seemingly empty, except for a statue of a giant wild boar.

"We're here! This is the entrance to Yzma's lab," Kuzco said excitedly and ran in front of the statue and indicating the tusks said, "Here, Sora, pull the lever," Sora obeyed and pulled down on the tusk. Suddenly a trap door opened under Kuzco and he disappeared. A few seconds later he came back into the room, sopping wet with a crocodile biting him, "Why does she even _have_ that lever? Sora, pull the other one,"

Laughing nervously, the Keyblade Master obeyed and the entrance opened up sending he and the others on the secret lab's roller coaster. Reaching the bottom and being thrown out, they observed they were all wearing lab coats. Though shaken, Sora seemed really excited, "Wow, that was fun! As soon as we Kuzco human again we need to do that again!"

"Oh, you mean turn him human with a potion perhaps?" The group whipped around to see Yzma and Kronk waiting for them, a small glass bottle with a pink label pinched between the old woman's spindly fingers.


	29. Scary Beyond All Reason

Chapter Twenty-eight Scary Beyond All Reason

"Yzma!" Sora snarled before a thought crossed his mind, "Hey, how did you get here before we did? I thought Chaka was distracting you,"

"Oh she was and she did an excellent job too," Suddenly Yzma stopped to think, "Then again, Kronk, how _did_ we get back here before them?"

Kronk shrugged, "Beats me, when you look at the story line it really doesn't make any sense,"

"Moving on," Yzma changed the subject from the unexpected plot hole, "It doesn't matter now, Keyblade Master. Kuzco cannot become human again without this potion and you are in my lab. And even without the powers of the Heartless I would still win since I am legally the Empress. And since you were kind enough to bring that girl here, I think you should hand her over,"

"Fat chance!" Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and Goofy and Lulu prepared for battle. Suddenly the floor of the lab turned black and the claws of giant Heartless pooled out of the shadows. Before any of the warriors could react, the claws grabbed them and each one was unable to move.

"You won't get away with this Yzma!" Sora snarled as he struggled against the chains that now bound him to the wall.

"Ha, I've already won," Yzma smirked as she tried to push Matilda into a chair, "As soon as I drain the power from this girl I will be the most powerful being in the universe,"

"Please don't do this!" Matilda begged as she struggled against Kronk's mighty grip, "Please don't let her do this to me Kronk,"

"Kronk, prepare the potion," Yzma motioned to her henchman as she clasped Matilda's wrist onto the arm of the chair.

"Kronk, I know you're not really a bad guy," Matilda's eyes welled up with tears and would not tear away from Kronk's. The minion began having second thoughts.

"You know you can't hurt that girl," a small angel suddenly said on Kronk's shoulder, "She was so sweet to you, and she even wanted to help you cook,"

"Yeah, but if you don't Yzma is going to chew you out. And she gives dental," A small red devil appeared on Kronk's other shoulder.

"That's true, good dental is hard to get in the current economy," Kronk pondered. Yzma gave a confused look to her henchman, and then looked to her captives to see if they had anymore clue to who Kronk was talking to. Sora and the others seemed just as bewildered and just shrugged.

Losing patience, Yzma finally acted on her own, pushing Kronk out of the way, "Oh, just get out of the way you gigantic imbecile, I'll do it myself. It's so hard to get good help, and on top of everything he's not even that great of a cook,"

"Oh no she didn't!" the angel and devil said simultaneously before poofing away. Kronk was a very peaceful man, but no one insults his cooking. Instead of going to the table he ran to the wall and pulling hard on the chain that bound Sora and the others ripped it and freed everyone instantaneously. Sora ran over to Matilda and using his Keyblade broke the chair she was bound to.

"No!" Yzma shrieked seeing her plans fall apart, "I will not lose! Even if you take away that girl, I'll at least hold on to Kuzcotopia!" She reached into the garter on her leg, causing screams from the males in the room of anguish and pulled out the potion that would turn Kuzco human again, "Say farewell to your humanity Kuzco!"

She prepared to through the potion to the ground but Lulu reacted, "I don't think so! Thunder!"

A shot of electricity hit Yzma's hand and she dropped the potion prematurely. Like an outfielder catching a fly ball, Sora rushed and slid under Yzma, catching the potion in his hands. But losing control, he crashed right into Yzma's potion cabinet dropping the contents of the shelves as well as the potion he had caught. Seeing what had happened, Kuzco cried out and ran over to Sora.

"Where is it, where is it?" Kuzco asked frantically as he picked through the similarly labeled bottles.

"I-I don't know!" Sora sputtered. Spotting Yzma running towards him, he scooped up as many potions as he could carry in his arms and began to run away, "Only one way to find out!"

Sora threw a potion bottle towards Kuzco, just missing Yzma lunging for him. The llama caught it in his mouth and using his teeth pulled out the cork. Drinking the potion he transformed…into an ostrich.

"Wrong one Sora!" Kuzco barked angrily. Suddenly Yzma summoned four giant Heartless that looked like stone giants. Seeing them, Kuzco screamed and shoved his head into the ground.

Distracted by the Heartless' sudden appearance Sora was unable to react when Yzma snatched a bottle from the Keyblade Master's arms. Sora pulled away before she could grab anymore, but Yzma grabbed the bottle with such force that it broke in her hand, the contents drenching her skin. With a burst of smoke, Yzma transformed into a small cute pink kitten.

With a look of horror, Yzma examined her body and in a tiny squeaky voice cried out in anguish, "My beautiful body!" She screamed at the Heartless as they were attacking Kairi, Lulu and Goofy who had been protecting Pacha, Kuzco and Matilda, "Don't bother with them, get the Keyblade Master!"

Sora squawked and threw another bottle to Kuzco. The kitten Yzma jumped on Sora's back, digging her tiny claws into his flesh. Sora let out a yell of pain and dropped the bottles he was carrying in order to pull the hairy menace off of him. Seeing an opportunity, Yzma jumped off of him and picked up one bottle in her mouth: Sora could clearly see the picture of a person on its label. The kitten ran out the lab and Sora yelled after her. Kuzco drank the potion, and transformed into an elephant. Pulling Pacha on his back, the giant Kuzco ran over to Sora and pulled him on as well.

"Let's get her!" Kuzco trumpeted. The three chased after the cat, but when she escaped out a small air channel, Kuzco could see he would not fit.

"Here, try thing one!" Sora tossed another potion to the emperor. This time he became a llama again. They chased Yzma through the channel, which lead to the front façade of the palace. The palace's front was designed like a cliff, with many ledges and cave-live carvings, but very, very steep. In his llama form again Kuzco had no trouble following the cat.

But at the pinnacle of the facade was too narrow for Kuzco to follow any further. Holding the potion vial triumphantly above her, Yzma cackled with her catlike voice, "It's over Kuzco! As soon as I get my body back I'll have the Heartless tear you to shreds like I intended to begin with. I'll get the girl back and will be the beautiful empress of the universe. I win,"

Suddenly a little black pegasus zoomed at the kitten like a shot, grabbing the potion from Yzma's paw and knocking her over, only to be caught in Kuzco's llama-like teeth. Piff flew down the Sora who was about twenty feet below, "No. _We_ win,"

"All's clear inside, Sora!" Goofy called up to the group as Pacha, Sora, Kuzco and Yzma climbed down from the façade back into the castle, "We got rid of the Heartless lickity-split,"

"No, no, no!" Yzma pouted, trying to swing around to slash Kuzco with her claws as he held her by the nape of the neck, "I still have control over the Heartless!"

"Oh, I don't think the Heartless are going to obey a cute little kitty," Kairi snickered.

Suddenly Kronk spoke up, "I know I'm still the villain to you guys and all, but could I keep her?"

Sora pulled the feisty little cat from Kuzco and looked it over, "You really want her?"

"Well, I know she's evil and not very nice, but she still is my friend," Kronk said shyly. Matilda confidently took Yzma from Sora and presented the still screaming and swearing cat to Kronk.

And gave the man a hug, "Thanks for all your help Kronk, I knew you were a good guy. Maybe one day you can show me more of your recipes,"

Sora presented the vile with the potion to Kuzco, "Well emperor, I think it's time to get your kingdom back,"

"Thanks for all your help everybody. A jerk like me, even as cool as I am, doesn't deserve friends like you," Kuzco gratefully took the potion from Sora, "Bottoms up!"

The llama swigged the potion and with a blast of light and smoke transformed back into the human. Where previously stood a red and black llama, was a young man with hawkish nose, large turquoise earrings wearing a red robe.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Pacha asked as he watched Sora and Goofy try to fix the Excalibur.

"We'd like to," Sora huffed as he tried to pull a part off the ship, "But we have friends we need to find,"

"Though we aren't going anywhere unless we get this ship to work," Lulu remarked as she observed the attempts to repair the ship.

"Why don't you just take Yzma's old ship? She's not going to be using it anymore," Kuzco offered. Since becoming human Kuzco decided to spend the summer with Pacha's family like he had asked. Though at first Chaka was reluctant to allow the emperor to stay, after seeing how much he had changed, began embracing Kuzco like family.

"Really? That'd be okay with you?" Sora asked with a note of surprise.

"Hey, after all you've done for me, it'd be the least I can offer," Kuzco said reassuringly.

"Thanks!" Sora began walking away from the decrepit Excalibur when suddenly the ship's radio began to sputter. Though the screen was cracked and the static was terrible, Sora could spot a figure on the screen. His heart skipped a beat as the broken fragments of a voice tried to reach through, "Kairi, Matilda! Get over here!"


	30. The Explorers

Chapter Twenty-nine The Explorers

"_I'm sorry I'm late, sir," Vincent followed Ansem through the dark corridors that existed within the castle of Hollow Bastion. The tunnels were could and metallic clank of their shoes hitting the ground echoed through the halls._

"_It's not a problem, Mr. Valentine," Ansem said cheerfully as he lead the young man to his laboratory._

"_My friends told me that the mission meeting was at three, they must have been playing a trick on me. They tend to do that to me a lot," Vincent rolled his eyes. Even as a young man he was very blunt and fairly reserved, "Having to repeat your instructions again makes us look very unprofessional,"_

"_Even if that's the impression I know better. The Turks are notorious mercenaries and bounty hunters. Your group was one of the first to fight the Heartless, am I right?" Ansem said conversationally._

"_Yes sir. Ever since those things started appearing when I was just a kid. But you're the one who knows the most about them right? You've been researching them for all these years," Vincent looked around, as Ansem opened a security door. There were pipes marked hot and cold running above their heads._

"_Yes, that is true. You are from Hollow Bastion, are you not?" Ansem continued as the entered the lab._

"_Yeah, but not from these parts. This is the first time I've seen the castle," Vincent stepped into the lab and crossed his arms and absently studied the equipment, not knowing what any of it did, "So what exactly is the mission? Rude and the others already went ahead of me,"_

"_Have a seat Mr. Valentine," Ansem said cordially, indicating a comfortable looking chair near a machine. Vincent gave a confused look to the man but the king merely smiled and continued to point at the seat._

"_So what is the mission?" Vincent repeated as he flopped down onto the chair and turned back to the ruler. Suddenly metal shackles popped from the chair and connected themselves over Vincent's wrists, ankles and neck. The man struggled against his confinement, "Hey! What's going on!"_

"_I think it's time you know, you __**are**__ the mission," Ansem said drolly as he began fiddling with a machine across the room, "I have been trying to learn as much about the Heartless as possible through my experiments. It seems they are very interested in those with strong hearts, and you have a very strong one, I can tell,"_

"_No wait! I didn't agree to this!" Vincent said fearfully as he tried to fight the restraints. Ansem ignored his plea and started up the machine to its full power. Vincent's body began to contort and fill with intense pain. The man couldn't help screaming but soon the pain dulled until a sudden numbness overcame his entire body…_

"That has got to be the best prosthetic arm I've ever seen," Vincent suddenly heard a deep voice, "I've been working in medicine in a long time and I've never seen one that detailed. If I didn't know better I'd think the fingers could move,"

"I once knew a man with a wooden leg named Smith," another voice, much hoarser than the other one.

"What was the name of the other leg?" a third voice, this time with a heavy Italian accent asked.

Vincent grunted and began to stir. He had no idea where he was, but he could feel he was in some kind of cot. He pushed himself up and felt his long hair fall into his eyes, he was no longer wearing his headband. He squinted his eyes, his vision was very bleary, he could tell he had been unconscious for a long time. Slowly his vision began to clear and he pushed his hair out of his face. Though the hair fell back into place as soon as he let go, he could see he was surrounded by people. A tall black man with a clipboard and stethoscope was standing next to a small old man with a frumpy hat. Next to him was a man with a thick black mustache and a match in his mouth. On Vincent's other side was a teenage Latina girl eyeing Vincent with mild curiosity as she continued to blow bubbles with her gum.

"That's a neat tattoo you got there," she said, "I've never seen one like it before,"

"That's nothin'!" the little old man said slapping his hand on his knee, "I've got a tattoo of the whole United States tattooed on my chest. Wanna see me make Rhode Island dance?"

"Uh no," the girl looked disgusted. Vincent looked down to see he was not wearing a shirt, all his clothes except his boxers shorts were gone and the emblem of the Heartless was clearly visible over his chest, where his heart used to be. He found it highly unusual that none of these people recognized what it meant or what he was.

"Where am I?" Vincent croaked hoarsely.

"Oh, he's awake!" another voice said cheerfully from outside the room. A thin bookish man with glasses came skipping into the room. Under one arm he had a thick leather bound book, "When they first brought you on we didn't think you were going to make it,"

"Tch, Milo! Why don't you go and translate something!" the girl said irritably. The man, Milo became quiet.

Vincent repeated, "Where am I, what happened?"

"We were traveling through space when we came across the wreckage of a ship, we were shocked to find anybody alive on there," the tall black man said, "But there you were, still breathing, but just barely. We took you on our ship and we've fixed you up,"

"What about the others?" Vincent continued.

"The other two are still alive. But the duck and the boy still haven't woken up yet," the man said. Vincent rubbed his eyes and tried to remember the last thing that happened to him. He remembered the dragon and the blast in which the Seaduck II was damaged.

"Where there others besides them, a second ship?"

"Nope, just the dust that was left of yours and the three of you,"

"Nice to meet you fella! My name is Milo Thatch," the man with glasses stepped forward again and offered his hand out to Vincent. Vincent stared at the man and then at his hand. The others in the room all groaned, Milo once again looked embarrassed.

Vincent took Milo's hand, "Vincent Valentine,"

"I'm Sweet, Dr. Joshua Sweet, I was the one who treated you," the large black man introduced himself.

"I'm Cooky," said the little old man.

"Name's Audrey," the girl shrugged and stuck her hands into the pockets of her overalls.

"I'm Vinny," the man with the mustache said and then asked, "Hey, since we have the same name how we not gonna get confused who's who?"

"Simple." Vincent put bluntly, "I hate being called Vinny. Just call me Vincent,"

"I'm sorry, did this ship suddenly become automatic and not need people working on it?" a commanding female voice shouted. Upon hearing it the group scattered and lined up. Vincent could see a stern looking blonde woman wearing a tank top, at her side was an intimidating looking Smith and Wesson, "Only Sweet needs to be with the patients. And did I not give specific orders that if any of the patients were to wake up you were to let me know, immediately?"

"Sorry Lu, he's only been awake for five minutes," the doctor said cheerfully.

"Well, then that's five minutes I didn't know, isn't it?" the woman snapped back. She turned to Vincent, "You, your name,"

"Vincent Valentine," was all the Heartless man said. The woman looked as though she expected him to say something more.

When it was clear he wouldn't anything else, the woman introduced herself, "I am Lt. Helga Sinclair. I was ordered by the commander of this vessel to bring you to him as soon as you awake. I need you to come with me,"

"Sure, just give me my clothes back." Vincent said matter-of-factly. This woman would be unable to intimidate him and she appeared taken aback by his manner. She nodded and Dr. Sweet came back with his clothes. Vincent dressed and all the people in the room gasped when they saw him use his clawed hand. He ignored them but noticed his gun and all his bullets were missing, "Where's my weapon?"

"Confiscated." Lt. Sinclair replied. Vincent frowned but followed the woman out anyway. On his way out of the hospital wing he saw Donald and Riku still peacefully asleep.

The ship Vincent ended up in was in no way small. It was perhaps the largest Gummi Ship he had ever seen in his life. If Cid were here he'd have a field day, the Heartless thought. There were dozens of people working and all of them cleared the way for the Lieutenant and himself. The woman led him to a cabin on the midlevel of the ship, the door had a plaque that said 'Commander Horge'. The woman knocked on it and turned back to the man in the red cape, "Remember we didn't have to save your life and we still can kick you off this ship. You will show Commander Horge respect and will not talk unless spoken to, understand?"

"Yeah," Vincent said simply. Lt. Sinclair opened the door and pushed Vincent in. Sitting on a leather chair in front of a desk was a middle-aged man with a graying crew cut. Though he could only see the back of the man, Vincent could tell he was an experienced soldier.

"What's your name, son?" The commander said as he spun his chair around to face the Heartless. The man spoke in a lazy good-humored way that reminded Vincent strongly of Cid, but didn't fool him into thinking this man was anywhere nearly as warmhearted.

"Vincent Valentine," Vincent replied bluntly.

"Well hello Mr. Valentine," the man said warmly as he stood up and offered his hand to Vincent. Horge was one of the few people that threatened to be taller than the caped man was. The Heartless man said nothing but grabbed the man's hand in response, "Ah, strong silent type. No problem. Better that you don't talk at all then filling the air with a lot of pointless noise, my kind of man,"

Vincent noticed what the man was looking at, his gun on the Commander's desk, "My gun, sir,"

"Ah yes, this is your gun, isn't it?" the Commander continued his friendly manner, "I've got to say, it's quite a curiosity. I can tell it's not that old, but it's already been used a lot. And some of those cartridges you carry in your pouches, unusual stuff. Can I assume you're a good shot?"

"I am, can I get it back?" Vincent asked point-blank.

"A man that gets to the point. I like you more and more, Valentine," Horge's manner became more direct, "I don't know much about you or your friends, Valentine, but I can tell you're a warrior. And if you're as good as I think you are, I really don't care about your background. But on this ship, you work to eat. I'll give you back your gun, but then we'll have to dump you and your friends off somewhere,"

Vincent said nothing at first. Based off of what the others in the hospital wing had told him, Sora and the others were probably alive, but were now in some other far off world. His ship was destroyed and he needed a way to contact them to let them know he and the others were okay, "So how do I stay on this ship?"

"I told you, you work, you eat. Join my crew and you get to stay,"

"What exactly is your crew doing?"

Horge smiled, "We are humble explorers, attempting to learn secrets about mankind and our universe. We are on a mission to discover a world long thought lost,"

Vincent thought it over a moment and knew something wasn't quite right. If they were really explorers, why would they need a gunner like him? On the other hand Vincent didn't have much of a choice if he was going to need transport, "Fine, my friends and I will join the crew,"

"Perfect," Horge grinned and handed Vincent back his things.


	31. Welcome Aboard

Chapter Thirty Welcome Aboard

Vincent returned to the hospital wing wearing the navy blue uniform of the ship with two more smaller uniforms under his arms. He checked up on Riku and Donald again to see they were still asleep. Though it was clear they needed rest, he knew he had to let them know what he did. He approached Riku first and nudged the young man with his knee.

"Wake up!" Vincent ordered. Riku began to groan and stir.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Dr. Sweet called out as he strode over to where Vincent was standing. Vincent ignored the doctor and nudged Riku again. Sweet warned him again, "Do that again and I'll have you thrown out of here,"

"I'm up, I'm up," Riku groaned. He pulled the covers over himself and turned over, "Jeez Sora, you can be a real jerk when a guy is trying to take a nap,"

"I don't think I'll need to do it again," Vincent said matter-of-factly to the doctor before turning back to the white-haired boy, "Kid, wake up,"

Riku finally opened his eyes. Realizing he was no where near home he shot up and looked around, "Whoa, what's going on!" He looked down and realized he was only left in his underwear, "Where are my clothes?"

Vincent dumped one of the uniforms on the bed, "Here. Put this on,"

"Can someone fill me in on what's happening, please?" Riku snarled through gritted teeth. He did not appreciate the Heartless man ordering him around.

"I'll explain everything once we wake Donald up," Vincent stated. He turned back to the doctor, "We won't be needing any more of your help thank you,"

"So you're joining the crew?" Sweet asked.

"We are?" Riku asked as he put a shirt on. He turned over to the other bed and shook the occupant, "C'mon Donald, time to wake up,"

After a lot of garbled swearing Donald woke up and looked around. Vincent threw the other uniform to the duck, who also had his clothes taken. The magician rubbed his eyes and asked Vincent, "What on earth is going on?"

"Yeah, and what are you talking about that we joined a crew?" Riku added, reluctant to put anymore of the uniform on before getting an answer.

"I signed us up for the crew," Vincent stated.

"If that's the case, all of you are going to have to take a physical before starting work," Sweet informed them, "But first I'm going to let Helga know you two are up. I don't need her chewing me out again. I'm a doctor after all,"

Sweet walked off and Donald and Riku looked just as confused and upset at Vincent as before. Riku snapped, "How can you sign us up for anything without asking us?"

"I didn't have a choice, we either become part of this crew or we lose any hope of seeing Sora and the others again," Vincent explained and then told them what had happened to the Seaduck II and Horge's ultimatum. A few minutes later Sweet and Lt. Sinclair returned along with some of the people Vincent had met earlier as well as a few people he had not yet seen before.

Sinclair looked over Riku and Donald before giving a skeptical comment, "Valentine I understand, but these two I'm no so sure about. We need workers on this ship, not people pulling people away from their duty for babysitting. You, your names, now,"

"I'm Riku," Riku snapped indignantly and added, "And I don't need a babysitter. That girl with the gum looks younger than I am,"

"Yeah, but she's useful," Sinclair snapped back and turned to Donald, "And you duck, what can you do except be an emergency food supply?"

"My name is Donald Duck and I'll have you know—" Donald began but Vincent interrupted.

"They're good fighters, all of them. I've been part of two mercenary groups, they were part of the better one. Riku may not know how to follow good sense, but you won't see a better swordsman. And Donald knows how to cure people better than most doctors,"

"That I'd like to see!" Sweet joked.

Helga didn't smile. She turned back to Vincent, Riku and Donald and gave them their directions, "I don't know why, but Horge assigned you three to security duty. Your job is to protect the brain of our crew. We have mechanics, engineers, soldiers, geologists, but none of them mean anything without this group behind me. This is Joshua Sweet," the Lieutenant introduced Sweet again, "He's the ship's doctor. Behind me is Audrey, she's young but she's our chief mechanic. Vinny is demolitions, Cooky is the ship's chef," Vincent already recognized most of the people introduced, but Donald and Riku greeted the crew politely. Then Sinclair introduced the two Vincent had not seen before, "Mrs. Packard is in charge of communication,"

"He's cute but I don't see why you needed to pull me off to meet him," Mrs. Packard said in a snarky tone, flicking the ashes of her cigarette on the ground as she looked at Vincent, "So if you don't need me anymore Marge was telling me about her new boyfriend,"

"Mrs. Packard, the ship's radio is not for gossip," Sinclair groaned.

"If you've got somebody else to run it, I'll gossip on something else," Mrs. Packard shrugged, "But you don't,"

Helga knew she couldn't argue and instead focused on introducing the final two members of the crew. One was Milo, the cheerful man that Vincent had met earlier and a small dirty looking man that seemed more like an animal, "This is Molier—"

Suddenly the man jumped up on Vincent and tackled him to the ground. Grabbing a pair of tweezers he pulled a speck of sand off of the Heartless man's eyebrow. Vincent was caught completely off guard and was busy fighting the instinct to send his fist in the man's direction, "Ah, a gunner," the small man said in thick French accent examining the sand, "Originally from a world with lots of plants and a high moisture content, most likely waterfalls. Has traveled to many other worlds and is an excellent shot,"

"Mole!" Sweet sighed. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a bar of soap and threatened the small man with it, "What did I tell you about playing nice with the other kids. Do that again and I _will_ use this,"

Seeing the bar of soap, Molier hissed and ran away. Vincent lifted himself off the ground and exchanged looks with Riku and Donald, they both couldn't help laughing and shrugged. The Lieutenant shot the man a look and rolled her eyes, "As I was saying, Molier is our geologist. Stay out of the way and he shouldn't bother you too much," She finally turned to Milo who was looking both eager to meet Vincent's group, yet at the same time looked very shy, "And this is Milo Thatch. He is the most important member of our team and as security, it is your job to protect him at all costs. Without him, there would **be** no mission. He is the linguist and cartographer,"

"Nice to see you up and about Vincent. You too, Riku, Donald," Milo said adjusting his glasses. Vincent noticed most of the other group seemed completely annoyed with the young scholar.

"Okay, now that we all know who we are, get back to work," Helga ordered and turned to Vincent, Riku and Donald, "You three, get checked out by Sweet and then get your supplies. After getting checked out on your cabin, you are to report for duty, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Vincent and Donald said. Riku seemed reluctant to take orders, but after a grim look from the others he nodded without saying anything. Helga marched off and the others shuffled out after her, Milo being the last to leave. Sweet went over to a table and grabbed a set of charts to prepare for the new crew members' physicals. Sweet started looking Donald over and Vincent asked, "Why does everyone not like that Milo guy?"

"Oh, nobody dislikes the kid, he's actually pretty good. He's just a bit soft, we're just hazing him a bit to toughen him up," Sweet explained brightly. He turned to Donald and stuck a tongue depressor in his mouth and asked, "So, you a big sports fan?" Donald could only reply with some gags and indistinguishable noises, "Me not so much, most sports don't have the excitement I like. That's why I took this mission, after being an army medic I missed the action,"

"Whoa, you were an army medic?" Riku said awed as Sweet began examining him.

"Yup, just like my dad. He was in the army during the war, that's where he met my mother, a Cherokee woman," Sweet continued conversationally.

"That's really cool, so I bet you've seen all kinds of places," Riku finished before Sweet stuck the depressor in his mouth.

"Well, all the places on my world, this is the first time any of us have gone outside of it," Sweet finished up with Riku and started with Vincent.

"You don't need to do that I'm fine," Vincent stated sharply, pulling away from Sweet's stethoscope, "So nobody here has ever been in a world outside their own?"

"Nope, the technology didn't exist until recently. That's what makes it so exciting. And quit pulling away, it's not like this is going to hurt," Sweet grabbed Vincent swiftly and forced the man to sit on a stool. Riku snickered and Vincent shot him a dirty look. Sweet put the stethoscope to Vincent's chest and moved it around for a few seconds, a puzzled look developed on his face, "I must be getting cabin fever, I swear I can't hear your heart beating!"

"Ever hear of something called a Heartless?" Vincent asked bluntly.

"No, can't say I have" Sweet replied.

"Then don't worry about it," Vincent abruptly stood up and walked out of the hospital wing. Riku and Donald ran after him. They next headed to the supply depot and each received bedding, a mess kit and canteen before being assigned a cabin number. When they arrived they were annoyed.

"This is a supply closet," Riku said irritably.

Vincent opened the cabin to reveal what Riku had said was true. Though there were four beds there was an odd assortment of mops, brooms and broken tools. Vincent stepped in and frowned, "No one said this was going to be comfortable. But if we want to find the others we need a ship and Horge promised our payment will be any ship we want after the mission. So stop complaining,"

Riku looked as though he deeply wanted to say something to the Heartless man, but instead shrugged and sighed before stepping in after Vincent with Donald in tow. The three cleaned up as much as they could and made their beds. As they finished someone knocked on the doorjamb. Milo was peeked in, his arms filled with various books, scrolls and his own bedding and supplies, "Mind if I come in?"

"What do you need?" Donald asked as he tested to comfort of his bed.

"I got into another fight with Mole, he put his dirt collection in my bed again," Milo sighed, "I've been moved here with you guys,"

"You shouldn't let those guys push you around like that," Riku stated as he stretched out his shoulders.

"They just don't think of me as one of 'them' yet. See, all of them—except Audrey, had been part of another related mission before, so they all know and trust each other. I haven't really proven myself yet," Milo explained smiling sadly, "But I will, once they say what I've been saying is true and that I'm not just a crazy dreamer,"

"That's the spirit," Riku smiled and wrapped an arm around Milo's neck, "Just stick with us Milo, we'll help you prove you're part of this crew. Heck, if I managed to toughen up Sora, I can certainly toughen you up,"

"Oh, _you_ toughened Sora up?" Donald snapped.

"Of course, if I hadn't beaten him so many times back on the Islands, he wouldn't have had the strength to survive what you put him through," Riku joked.

"So it's true, you really _are_ from other worlds!" Milo said excitedly.

"So no one from your world has ever left and I assume you've never had visitors from others worlds," Vincent seemed interested.

"No, never. This is why this mission is such a big deal, it's the first time anybody's left. For a long time it was just a theory, that's why people thought I was so crazy: because I believed that there were other worlds, and that's what we're doing now, looking for a world that people thought was just a legend,"

"Oh really, what world is that?" Donald asked curiously.

Milo beamed a huge smile, "The world of Atlantis,"


	32. Leviathan

Chapter Thirty-one Leviathan

"Atlantis?" Riku asked.

"Atlantis," Milo repeated. He dumped his things on his bed and grabbed a rolled up map and the leather book Vincent had seen him carrying earlier. He opened the book and began talking excitedly, "There are legends from our world that say that there was a country so great and so powerful that it had technologies we still don't have, thousands of years before recorded civilization. Flying machines, sophisticated medicine, electricity, things we couldn't even dream of! All with a special kind of power source,"

"But this country was on your world, wasn't it?" Vincent observed.

"Yes, but here's the thing, the power of the Atlantians was said to be so great that they made the gods jealous. So to punish them, the gods were have said to sent down some great cataclysm, destroying the country of Atlantis and wiping it off of the face of the map," Milo continued, "But the legend continues that at the last second the gods took mercy and instead of destroying Atlantis, they are said to have made it a separate world, no longer part of the one I'm from. For years, people said it was just some silly myth, but my grandfather said that was real, and the evidence was in a journal, the last recorded record of Atlantis. People said he was crazy, but I believed him and I continued his work once he died. I worked for years trying to organize an excursion to find the book and prove my grandfather was right. Then, a few months ago an old friend of my grandfather said when my grandfather was alive, the book was found," Milo indicated the leather bound book he was holding, "This one. But because no one believed him, no one would invest in it. The friend said he owed my grandfather for doubting him when he was alive and offered to pay for a mission to find Atlantis, and that mythic power source,"

"That is incredible!" Riku said awestruck and turned angrily to Vincent, "You know, if you gave me a chance to use my own freewill I would have wanted to join on my own!"

"I didn't want to take the chance," Vincent shrugged, "C'mon, that woman said we're supposed to report for duty once we're settled. I think we're settled enough,"

"Hey Vincent, doesn't Sinclair remind you of Lulu?" Riku whispered as Milo went to put his things away.

"Not really. Lulu is the way she is because she's a Nobody. I have no idea what this lady's excuse is," Vincent replied.

Vincent, Milo, Riku and Donald all walked together to the bridge to report for duty. Milo stayed ahead to show them the way and taking advantage of being behind them, Vincent whispered a warning to Riku and Donald, "Listen, we're probably going to meet the Commander at the bridge, so there are a couple of things I want you guys to keep in mind. Don't mention anything about Sora or the others or tell anyone what I am. These people don't know what Heartless or Nobodies are, and I don't trust Horge. He may act nice, but I can tell he has an agenda,"

"Just because you're a Heartless doesn't mean you can tell if a person is good or evil or no," Riku reminded him sharply.

"That isn't being a Heartless talking," Vincent shook his head, "That's years of fighting experience,"

"Ah, and here are our new men," a voice said pleasantly from the bridge. Riku and the others looked up to see Horge and Helga commanding the crew from above, "Reporting for duty, I see,"

"Yes sir," Vincent said unenthusiastically.

"Okay Valentine, you and the rookies watch our boy Milo and patrol the upper and lower deck. You don't need to take it too seriously though, it's not like anybody's going to attack on my ship," Horge added with a chuckle. Vincent and the others didn't reply and instead followed Milo up the stairs to the bridge. Milo spread out his maps on a table near Horge and the Commander stepped over to look at them, "So how's it looking?"

"Well, according to my translations of the ancient journal, Atlantis is supposed to be located past an asteroid belt. Now normally the belt would be impassable by a ship this big, but with the guns installed I think we should be able to blast the big and little ones," Milo said confidently.

"Sounds easy enough, I thought that this world was supposed to have all kinds of defenses," Horge remarked.

"Yes, but I don't think the asteroids are the only thing we have to worry about. According to the texts Atlantis is supposed to be protected by some guardian god," Milo stated as he rechecked a page in the leather bound book, "Then again, that could be just some exaggeration. It might be some statue or a particularly nasty to maneuver rock formation. Either way, once we're supposed to get past the asteroids and the 'god' there is a very tight gap to enter the world. Once you get passed the gap there is a giant chasm, and inside the chasm is Atlantis, but I'm not sure how big that gap is going to be,"

"Couldn't we just blast it open like the asteroids?" Vinny suddenly appeared behind Milo, casually tossing a stick of dynamite into the air.

"Doubtful. If we do, it is likely we will collapse the chasm completely, blocking Atlantis off forever. We just need to make sure, no matter what happens, that we stay on the coordinates described in the book," Milo chewed on his lip in concentration, "But this 'guardian god' stuff has my guts in a knot…"

Suddenly warning lights and a siren blared through the entire ship. Outside the ship's window the asteroids Milo had described appeared. Lt. Sinclair began bellowing instructions on how to avoid the rocks and ordered members of the crew to man the weapons. Vinny, Molier and Sweet appeared and ran to the laser cannons and began blasting the space rocks out of the sky. At first their attempts seemed to be working, the vessel took no damage but after the first wave, the amount of asteroids increased. Sinclair spat out a swear, "We've got more guns but nobody manning them. I don't care if your shooting experience was filling the clown's mouth at the carnival. Just get up here,"

"I think she means us," Donald remarked. Vincent and Riku nodded their heads and ran to the first available weapon. The three stood behind the cannons and aimed at the rocks. All three having experience either with Gummi Ship guns or real guns began taking out the danger like a video game. None of the three's shots missed, but the ship was still taking heavy damage.

"Commander we're getting killed here! We need more firepower!" Helga screamed to Horge, having taken on a weapon herself.

Horge did not panic, but was clearly worried, "We've got the mega-cannon but it's never been tested. The kickback on it could send us crashing right into a direct hit. Unless a person that's never missed in their life and can take out most of those darn pebbles at once we can't take the chance,"

"We can't take the chance not to!" Helga said urgently.

Suddenly Vincent abandoned his post and dragged Milo over, "You, man this gun,"

"B-but I don't know how to use a gun!" Milo blurted nervously.

Vincent forced Milo's hands on the controls, "You point, then shoot,"

Before Milo could argue anymore Vincent ran off to find the controls of the mega-cannon. Horge called after him, "Valentine, what do you think you're doing!"

"I've been blasted out of the sky more times in my life than I care to. I'm not getting blasted again," Vincent put bluntly as he discovered the weapon room marked 'mega-cannon' and barged him. The room had a seat and several complicated dials all over the walls, but ignoring all of them Vincent plopped himself into the seat and started up the cannon. It took a few seconds to figure out how to operate the cannon and the Heartless nearly fell over when the ship got jarred by another giant asteroid. His red eyes flashed back and forth as he observed everything around him and fought his mind to come up with a solution. From the corner of his eye he noticed a giant meteor, one that probably could not be broken up by any kind of weapon but figured if the blast recoiled off of it several more asteroids would be destroyed and the ship would be pushed past the belt. He hoped he was right. Without a moment's hesitation he gripped the controls, aimed at his mark and fired. The entire ship started to shake as the energy for the weapon built up. Like Horge expected, the ship flew back the opposite direction of the blast as the massive laser collided with the meteor and broke up into dozens upon dozens of shards of light, all of which hit asteroids around the ship as it hurtled uncontrollably. The ship began to slow down until it came to a stop.

It had worked. There was not one moving asteroid visible. All Vincent could see was a giant rock formation up ahead, one with a small gap like Milo had described. The Heartless man got up and walked out of the weapons room. As soon as he was spotted the crew began cheering. Along with Horge and Sinclair on the bridge, Donald, Riku, Milo and the rest of the head crew was waiting for him. Horge was shaking his head and laughing, "That was plain crazy, Valentine. But you saved our lives, we owe all you,"

Vincent shrugged without saying anything and returned to his patrol.

Horge called out to Audrey, "Chief Mechanic: status report,"

"Well, we lost guns four, seven and twelve," Audrey began, examine the charts someone handed her as well as observing everything around her, "But the ship didn't take any kind of fatal damage. We'll be fine without any repairs for now,"

"Commander," a crackling voice called over the PA system.

"What is it Mrs. Packard?" Horge called back.

"Commander, I think you need to hear this," Mrs. Packard stated again. Suddenly a strange grating sound came blaring over the stereo. Everyone in the ship clapped their hands over their ears.

"What is that?" Lt. Sinclair winced, "A pulsar?"

"It sounds mechanical. I think it's just our radar bouncing off of those rock formations," Horge remarked.

"I don't think so Commander," Packard's tone didn't change, "The sound is getting—"

Suddenly the giant ship shook with a violent jolt knocking several people off the bridge and upper and lower levels. Milo fell from a gun to one of the domed windows a few feet below, "Louder."

"What was that thing!" Horge snarled, "I want a status report ten minutes ago,"

"Jiminy Christmas!" Milo gasped, "It's the guardian god of Atlantis, Leviathan!"

Flying around the giant rock formations was a gargantuan gray-green entity that looked very much like a lobster. It had small red eyes, many legs and menacing large claws. The crew of the ship stayed still, trapped in fear and in awe. Only Horge seemed unaffected by the appearance of the Leviathan, "Time to stop staring at the fishies, people. Cooky, melt some butter, I want this lobster steamed and on my table,"

Out of their trance, the crew once again returned to battle stations. Sweet, Vinny and Mole followed the others and sent dozens of Teeny Ships after the Leviathan. Vincent, Riku and Donald looked to the Commander and Lt. Sinclair for direction but were unsure what to do. Riku turned to Vincent, "We can't just stand around doing nothing. Vincent, can you use that mega-cannon thing again?"

"I doubt it. With the damage we've already got it would probably drain us of all our power. They know what they're doing. If they need us, they'll yell for us," Vincent reassured him. The three watched as the Teeny Ships containing members of the crew battle the Leviathan. The ships shot at the beast, blasting it with missiles and lasers, and though momentarily shaken, the creature seemed unaffected. Almost from no where, the Teeny Ships began being hit with two beams of light. The Leviathan was shooting lasers from its eyes.

"Get everyone to retreat! We're not going to be able to beat this thing, we need to outrun it," Milo ran to Horge. The commander gave Thatch a skeptical look, "That rock formation up ahead is our destination,"

"Lieutenant, give the order to retreat," Horge barked to Sinclair. Sinclair repeated the order and the remaining Teeny Ships turned tail and headed back to the main ship. The Leviathan followed, "Increase speed and prepare to modify course,"

"No, don't!" Milo warned, "I've been doing some calculations and that chasm is much smaller than I thought it would be,"

"If we don't, that thing will catch us Thatch. It was your idea to retreat," Horge warned.

"If we modify our course even a degree from this distance there is no way we can make it through the gap. If we hit the walls the chasm will be blocked and that thing will get us anyway. I still think we can outrun it. No matter what, we _cannot change the course_,"

"I hope you're right Milo. We've gambled with our lives already," Horge said sternly. With the final Teeny Ship reattached the main ship greatly increased in speed, but so did the Leviathan.

"I'm getting dragon flashbacks, Vincent," Riku said worriedly as they saw the monster get closer and closer.

"I know," Vincent replied unemotionally. The monster was only a few hundred yards away when suddenly it extended one of its giant claws and grabbed this ship and squeezed. Many of the lights in the ship hissed and exploded as the pressure on the cabin began to change.

"Commander!" Audrey came in frantically, "We've lost reactors seven through twenty. I don't think we're going to survive all this damage,"

Horge glared at Milo, but he still looked determined, "We can still make it! Don't change the course!"

"We can't control anything Thatch, that thing's got us," Horge snarled.

"It's a machine!" Donald yelped as the crew could get a better look at their attacker. As the Leviathan and ship got exceedingly closer to the gap in the rock wall they could see the thing's eyes light up again, it was preparing to blast the ship.

"If we evacuate everyone we still need the same coordinates to survive," Milo said determinedly, "If we escape just before hitting the wall, the Leviathan will close the gap for us and can't come after us,"

"But we'll be trapped! We have no idea what's behind there. It's insanity!" Lt. Sinclair interjected.

"But we'll be alive," Milo said seriously before holding up the leather bound journal he constantly had with him, "And as long as I have this I'll know exactly what's behind there,"

"Well, we've already trusted you this far," Horge sighed.

"Attention, attention. Prepare evacuation procedure, we are abandoning ship. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill," Mrs. Packard said drolly as though the immanent destruction of the ship was a great inconvenience to her.

Obeying the urgent order, Vincent grabbed Milo and ushered him to the escape pods. Inside the pod already waiting were Dr. Sweet, Mole, Vinny, Mrs. Packard, Cooky and Audrey. After packing Vincent, Milo, Donald and Riku inside Horge and Sinclair came in after him. Horge made a motion and the escape pod came to life. With a final 'whoosh' the pod shot out with dozens others just as the Leviathan began shooting lasers at the ship. The outer shell of the ship began glowing before disintegrating with a deafening explosion. The energy of the explosion radiated away from the remnants of the ship causing the escape pods to accelerate uncontrollably.

"If we just stay on course, if we just stay on course," Milo repeated to himself as he clutched his journal to his chest. Riku put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and smiled at the man. Milo returned the smile weakly. Each one of the pods zipped safely past the walls of the chasm, though some were closer to crashing than others. As the last pod made it through the chasm the walls behind began to collapse and the entrance disappeared.


	33. One of the Guys

Chapter Thirty-two One of the Guys

The pods slowed down to a controllable speed and turned on their lights to examine their surroundings. The walls inside the now closed-off chasm were eerily blank, as though no other man alive had ever seen them before. Horge saw a ledge up ahead and ordered all the ships to rendezvous at the same point. The escape pods landed and detecting a strong source of oxygen opened up and the crew gathered together. Horge climbed up on a rock so he could overlook everyone. In the crowds he could see worried and depressed faces, "Ladies and gentlemen, when you accepted this mission you knew there would be unknown dangers, even a possibility you may never return home. Now we're trapped inside a cavern we know nothing about, but we are alive. All thanks to the work of Milo here," Horge gave a stern appreciative look to the startled cartographer, "Mr. Thatch, we're alive because of you, and we need to put our lives in your hands again. It's all up to you now, you and that little book,"

Sinclair took charge, "All right people, get the machines out of the pods and move out. Go, go, go!"

The crew gathered their supplies and rigs and began following Milo through the winding tunnels within the chasm. The journey was perilous. There were steep cliffs and narrow passages that were difficult to navigate. The temperature kept fluctuating between boiling hot and icy cold, damaging many of the machines. And every so often bizarre and terrifying creatures attacked the crew. After taking a wrong turn down a tunnel forcing Vincent to battle a huge worm everyone began getting irritated with Milo. Though still not accepted by the others and being not as used to strenuous work, Milo did not complain. He did just as much work as the others and helped out wherever he could.

"See, we had the same problems with the boiler in the museum, you just have to play around with the pressure," Milo said confidently as he helped Audrey fix a digging machine. She sniffed and started driving it again, without saying even 'thank you'.

After Vinny blew down a rock formation to create a bridge, the crew crossed into a safe looking cavern illuminated by a natural phosphorus light source. Horge decided to set up camp. The group of men and women were grateful for the rest, but it would hardly be the end of work for the evening. Vincent cleaned his gun, making sure everything was in working order. Hearing the ringing bell of Cooky's chuckwagon, he decided to go grab dinner. As he went to collect Riku and Donald, who were helping Sweet fix the injured crew members, he spotted Milo hard at work, studying and rechecking the journal, the concentration evident on his face. The Heartless could tell this man needed to take a break, "Hey Milo, I'm getting dinner, want to come with me?"

"Hm?" Milo suddenly noticed a person was talking to him, "Oh yeah sure, just a second,"

"What are you working on anyway?" Vincent asked as he approached Milo's table.

"Well, according to my calculations we'll arrive in Atlantis some time tomorrow morning,"

"That's good news, isn't it?"

"It is, but something still doesn't make sense. The writer of the journal was extremely detailed about everything in Atlantis: the kinds of plants that were there, the animals, the architecture. But for some reason when he describes Atlantis's power source, he starts up about it, but then suddenly stops. It's like there's a page missing," Milo glanced over his translations one last time before closing the book and following Vincent to the food line.

Donald and Riku were already ahead of them and when Vincent and Milo finally got their dinner, Vincent went over to join his two companions at the fire while Milo turned around to go back to his table and work. Sweet, Vinny and Audrey exchanged looks and the doctor called out to the skinny cartographer, "Hey Milo, why don't you come join us?"

Milo stopped in his tracks and spun around, "Really?"

"Yeah sure," Sweet said jovially. Milo ran over to the fire as though he wanted to arrive before they changed their minds. He sat down between Audrey and Vinny and stuck his fork eagerly into the meal Cooky had given him, but bringing the fork up to his mouth and smelling it, thought better of it and set his fork back down again.

"How's yer viddles?" Cooky called out as he brought the pot of food over to group by the fire, "There's plenty for seconds!"

"It's, er, greasier than usual, Cooky," Milo remarked as he continued to stare at his food.

"Well good! Here, have some more. Skinny feller like you could use some meat on his bones," Without being asked, Cooky plopped several more ladle fills of the contents of his pot, "And since you like it so much we can have it again tomorrow. Good new is this stuff keeps and keeps and keeps…"

When Cooky walked off to serve the next group, the people surrounding the fire stared at their plates and emptied the contents onto the fire, setting off a small explosion, everyone except Vincent. The Heartless cleaned off his plate without a word.

"You can't tell me you seriously like this slop?" Riku said with a small gag.

"Of course not, but we need to keep up our strength," Vincent continued to eat without either a sign of enjoyment—or disgust, on his face.

Sweet picked up the Milo's journal and flipped through it, "You can seriously read this Gibberish?"

"Oh yeah, but it's not Gibberish to me. I can understand it just fine," Milo added softly, "My grandfather taught me,"

"I wish I could have met your grandfather, Milo," Audrey said gently, "He sounded like a great man,"

"He really was," Milo reached into his tank top and pulled out a framed picture of an old man in khaki holding a small boy, "My parents died when I was young, so he was my only family. He taught me all kinds of things, including the love of dead languages. I really hope we find Atlantis, I know that would make him proud of me," Milo suddenly changed subjects, "All of you were on the mission to find the journal together, weren't you,"

"All of us except Audrey," Sweet nodded as he stroked the fire.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did such a young girl like you become the Chief Mechanic to such an important mission," Milo asked as he took the journal back from Sweet.

"My dad always wanted sons; one to take over his mechanic shop and the other to become a champion boxer. Instead he got my sister and me, so he taught me everything he knew," Audrey stretched out.

"What about your sister?" Milo asked.

"Oh, she's 5-0 in middle weight and has a shot at the belt this summer," Audrey said casually.

Feeling more comfortable with the group, Milo decided to learn more about them, "So what's your story Vinny, why did you become a demolitions expert?"

"Me, I just like to blow stuff up," Vinny shrugged as he played with a lighter. Sweet nudged him in the ribs with his elbow, "All right, all right. My family…they actually owned a flower shop. You know, bouquets, corsages, those little flowers guys have in buttonholes, I did them all. It was a nightmare. Everyone asking 'when are they going to be ready?' Then one day the Chinese Laundry next door sprung a gas leak and BAM, no more Chinese Laundry, sent me through three walls. It was like a sign from God,"

"And Mole?" Milo indicated the one member of the group who was not by the fire to eat dinner.

"You don't want to know. Audrey don't tell him, she told me and I'm telling you. You _do not_ want to know," Sweet warned, "And you've heard about me already, I'm just your neighborhood Indian doctor. I am sorta curious about you three though, how'd you end up in space like that?"

Riku, Donald and Vincent looked up, startled to be included in the conversation. Riku began to speak but Vincent gave him a warning look, "I'm not stupid, I won't talk about anything I'm supposed to. I'm from this really tropical island, everybody said it was beautiful but I was miserable there. Bored to tears. Some stuff happened and I finally left. I was traveling with some friends,"

"And you Donald?" Milo indicated the duck.

"I was the court magician to a very important king. I was doing some work for him," Donald said as vaguely as possible. Even if harmless towards him, Vincent did intimidate the cowardly duck greatly.

"What about Mr. Vincent don't-call-me-Vinny Valentine? I bet you've got the most interesting story of all of us," Sweet joked.

Vincent shrugged and began examining his riffle again, "There really isn't that much to tell. I used to be a mercenary, my group stabbed me in the back and then I joined these guys,"

No one was convinced by the Heartless's story but realized he didn't want to say anything further, so they didn't push him. Milo broke the sudden silence that Vincent's answer created, "It's great that we're all out here like this, hungry for adventure and learning what no other person knows!"

"Actually…I'm just doing this for the money," Audrey said sheepishly.

"Really?" Milo said surprised, "What about you guys?"

"Money," Sweet had to agree. Mrs. Packard, Vinny, Mole and Mole all said money as well.

Milo looked slightly surprised and hurt by their answer, "Are you three the same?" He asked Vincent, Riku and Donald.

Vincent paused, "Horge gave us the option of dropping us off or working. When the mission is over he's giving us a ship so we can find the people we were separated from,"

Milo seemed to be getting depressed. Riku shrugged, "I'm in it for the adventure of it. I've always wanted to see as many places as possible away from my island. It's a promise I made with my best friend,"

"Thanks Riku," the linguist/cartographer smiled.

Suddenly Sinclair came over to the fire, "Light out in ten minutes, ladies and gentlemen. I suggest you set up camp," After the long and difficult day everyone eagerly obeyed. They pitched their tents and wished each other good night.

"_What…what did you do to me?" Vincent asked, his body limp and his head hazy. The king did not answer immediately, instead he stared intently at the man strapped the chair before writing down his observations in a clipboard. Somehow the young man didn't seem to care whether the madman answered him at all._

"_Well, this is most interesting," Ansem replied with a genuine tone of fascination, "With all my other experiments the effect was immediate. But for some reason your, Mr. Valentine, body seems resistant to the transformation,"_

"_What are you talking about, what happened?" Vincent's voice felt strangely monotone, and his chest felt strangely empty. He had been completely aware of everything that was going on, but nothing seemed to really hold his interest. He felt like he didn't care about anything._

"_Oh, forgive me, I should explain while you're still human. Not that it really matters in the end, but your curious structure, I think you deserve to know since you are so unique. In all worlds is a Heart, these Hearts are connected to other worlds by one singular Heart known as Kingdom Hearts. Like the Hearts of worlds, Hearts of man and beasts are similarly structured. They are both full of absolute Darkness, Darkness that seeks out other Darkness to cause pain and destruction. Remove a person's heart and all that's left is that Darkness and the person becomes a Heartless. I have been experimenting to see if when a Heart is removed if it is possible for light to remain. Unfortunately, it appears that is not the case," Ansem sighed, "You are holding onto your humanity longest of anyone I have experimented on, but in the end, you too are succumbing to the Darkness. You had an extremely strong Heart, Mr. Valentine, but all in all, it only means you will become a particularly powerful monster,"_

_A sudden primal instinct began taking over reason as Vincent's conscious began to fade away. A very dark feeling, like a hunger, for other people's hearts, "You took…my heart?" _

_The words Ansem the Wise had said suddenly began to make sense in Vincent's numbing head. He looked unenthusiastically down at his left hand, it was bubbling like black rubber as the human flesh became plates of sharp golden metal. Watching his body morph made something click in Vincent's head. This man, standing in front of him, did this terrible thing to him and all he was doing was taking notes, as though Vincent's life was of no consequence or importance. The desire to take hearts disappeared and one final, powerful feeling came roaring back: Rage. _

_The morphing of his body stopped and his hand solidified into a claw. His anger made him rip away from the chair he was shackled to as though the metal were tissue paper. He grabbed Ansem by his throat and slammed the man against the wall of the lab, causing beakers and vials to come crashing to the floor, "YOU TOOK MY HEART?!"_

"_How is this possible?!" Ansem choked as he groped for a hypodermic needle on the table. In a flash Ansem grabbed the syringe and jabbed it into Vincent's arm. Vincent's grip loosened and his vision went black._

_When the man awoke he was in some type of dungeon and he was not alone. Around him were dozens of types of terrible creatures, crawling and writhing all over each other like rats in a cage. Vincent's head knew these things were terrifying but for some reason he could not feel afraid. He merely stared at them, some of them stared back at him before going back to crawling at the walls or fluttering around. What had happened earlier came back to Vincent's mind. The lab. The Experiment. Ansem. Heartless._

_All the creatures around, Vincent observed, had the same black and red mark somewhere on their bodies. Vincent's instincts told him to look down at his own chest, and over his clothing was that same symbol. The man clawed at his shirt, removing it. On his bare skin the symbol appeared again. He looked back at the creatures and then at himself, "It can't be. I can't be one of those __**things**__,"_

_The rage in Vincent came boiling back, "No! I'm different! I am not a monster!"_

Vincent's eyes slowly opened. The rage from those old thoughts subsided and he was left once again empty. His mind tried to connect what had woken him up. The Heartless suddenly smelled smoke and quickly grabbing for his things, got up and ran outside his tent. The camp was on fire.


	34. The Lost World

Chapter Thirty-three The Lost World

Everyone was running around, trying desperately to put out the growing flames as they crept closer and closer towards the diesel powered rigs. In the fray of flying water buckets and commanding officers ordering around peons, Vincent spotted Donald casting water spells. Vincent raced over to the duck, "What happened?"

"Nobody knows. We heard Milo screaming and then 'poof' flames everywhere," Donald managed to say between magic words.

"Where's Milo?" Vincent asked as he looked around, he could not see the skinny linguist anywhere.

"Get these rigs out of here!" Sinclair bellowed to the men as the fire got further and further out of control. Audrey and Mole ran over to their beloved digging machines while Riku helped Sweet evacuating his injured patients. The crew fought desperately against the growing inferno, but as the last truck was being pulled away from the quickly abandoned campsite, its canvas cover ignited. The drivers and passengers jumped out of the truck just as it exploded. The force of the explosion caused the entire cavern to tremor and the floor crumbled beneath the crew, sending every man, woman, duck and piece of machinery into the abyss below.

"Whoever isn't dead say 'here'," Horge groaned as he pulled himself out of a pile of rubble. Several moans replied to his request as the crew gathered themselves in several states of disarray.

"Dagnabit!" Cooky called out, "I done busted my sit-upon, somebody's gonna to have to suck the poison out,"

There were no volunteers. Mole scampered around as he examined the ground, completely undisturbed from the massive fall, "We appear to be inside the magma chamber of a volcano,"

"You mean we're sitting over lava?" Horge blurted, "You think this thing could blow soon?"

"No, no, no," Mole waved off the commander's concern, "She is dormant, it would take a massive explosion to set her off," Everyone gave a dirty look to Vinny, who was tinkering with one of his explosives.

"It looks like the shaft goes all the way to the outside. We might be able to use that to get back out of here now that the chasm opening collapsed," Horge remarked, he looked around and noticed an important member of the crew was missing, "Where's Milo?"

"He went missing during the fire, sir," Riku stated.

"You three," Horge pointed to Riku, Donald and Vincent, "Go look for him and make sure he didn't get himself killed,"

"Yes sir," The three replied.

The team of three found their way back up the chamber to what was left of their camp. In the chaos that had ensued during the fire, no one noticed the sets of tracks leading up a tunnel. Vincent studied the ground, "Looks like there were three of them, the fourth set must belong to Milo,"

"He was kidnapped?! Do you think he's okay?" Donald asked worriedly.

"Hard to tell. I see traces of blood too," Vincent stated indifferently, "Let's go follow them,"

"Man oh man, this has got to be my fault. I bet Milo went exploring or something. I told him before lights out that I bet these tunnels were filled with all kinds of artifacts but that Horge would never let us explore them," Riku stated, his insides knotted with guilt.

"Even if that's the case you're not doing him any good just standing around like that," Vincent had already begun walking up the tunnel. His unemotional tone rubbed Riku the wrong way.

"You know, you might have fooled Sora, goodness knows that's not hard to do. You may have fooled the King, and Matilda, and everyone else. But you don't fool me," Riku snapped as he began reluctantly following Vincent and Donald, "We're not friends, so quit telling me what to do all the time,"

Vincent didn't seem the least bit bothered, "Listen kid, I don't care what you think of me, I'm just trying to get us to survive this experience so we can get back to Sora and the others. I do what I think will be the best way to do that. I tell you what I think will be the best way to do that. You don't have to like me, but you better darn well listen to me. Even with as much battle experience you have, you still haven't seen anything anywhere near what I've gone through,"

"Oh quit the act! You're a Heartless, you fraud. You _can't _care for my welfare or anybody else's, you're incapable of it. You only tell yourself who or what is supposed to be cared for because that's what's excepted as the right thing for a human to do. But you're not a human, you're just a monster, just like all the other Heartless. Sora may think you're some kind of hero, but I know it's only a matter of time that you'll turn on us, just like you did in Traverse Town," Riku blurted out. Vincent stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Riku eye to eye.

"You don't like me for the same reason I don't like other Heartless. Because when you see me, it reminds of the Darkness that exists in your own heart," Vincent's unfeeling red eyes pierced right into Riku's sea green ones, and his terrifying stature seemed amplified, "I could tell from the moment I saw you. You may have fought the Darkness, rejected the Darkness, accepted the Darkness, tried to become its master, let it become yours. But no matter what you've done, it's still there, and it scares you,"

The Heartless man's chilling words cut into Riku and caused him to shudder. His voice cracking Riku replied, "You know, it must be nice not having a heart like you. Nothing ever causes you fear,"

Vincent's calm shattered with a flood of hot rage. He grabbed Riku by his lapels, "Don't you _ever_ say that again. Do you know what I would give to have any emotion except hatred? To be able to feel _anything_ besides rage, even if it's fear? Even if it meant the last emotion I'll ever feel is sadness, terror, loss? If it meant getting my heart back I would be a happy man. You will never know what that demon Ansem did to me,"

Riku had known he had gone too far with his last remark and for a split second during the encounter he was sure Vincent would harm him. The Heartless's grip was extremely tight, but being so close to Vincent he could see something he had not seen before. Besides rage in Vincent's blood-red eyes was desperation. Riku said quietly, "Actually, I know a little more about Ansem then you'd think,"

"Cut it out you two!" Donald raised his magic scepter threateningly, "We've got to find Milo, he might be in trouble!"

"You're right," Vincent said, his anger subsiding, loosened his grip on the white haired boy. In that moment, the two gained a new respect for each other.

Milo groaned as he opened his eyes. His vision slowly cleared as he got a grasp on his surroundings. All around him were three terrifying faces. Panicked, the thin cartography tried to pull away and suddenly realized he was injured. His shoulder was bleeding badly and all feeling in his arm was gone. It appeared those surrounding him realized his peril as well. He waited for them to finish him off, but instead the three looked at each other and began speaking in an odd language that seemed strangely familiar. They pulled at their faces. Milo realized the three were wearing masks, and were evidently very human. One got closer and Milo could get a better view of his captors. He was in awe, one of them was a woman, and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her blinding white hair fell into her delicately structured face. Her pursed lips were frowned in worry and her eyes were the same bright blue of the crystal around her neck. She pulled the crystal off her neck and touched it Milo's wound. It stung momentarily until she placed her hand over it and after removing it, the wound was gone, not even a scar remained.

Milo only had a moment to realize what happened when one of the woman's male companions began chattering frantically and pointing at the tunnel ahead. The woman nodded and pulled her mask back on. The other two followed suit and grabbed their weapons and began running. Milo could hear people arguing from the direction the one man had pointed but his interest was more in the people that had just run away. He called after them, "Wait!"

Vincent, Riku and Donald spotted Milo immediately after exiting the tunnel. Riku called out happily "Milo, you're okay!"

Instead of replying, Milo just glanced at them once and then ran the opposite direction. "Well, that was rude!" Donald sniffed.

"C'mon, let's go after him!" Riku commanded. The three broke into a run after Milo. For being so physically weak, the cartographer was amazingly fast. No one paid any attention to where they were going as the tunnels wound around them. Suddenly a natural feeling white light made the tunnels become brighter and brighter. The tunnel opened out into a lush, plant covered cliff. Milo suddenly stopped and Donald and Riku crashed into the back of him. Standing before them were three beings holding oddly shaped spears.

Once again, one of the three began speaking in the strange language Milo heard earlier and brandished their spear threateningly. Donald, Riku and Vincent summoned their own weapons, ready for battle. Milo held his arm up to block his three companions, "No, wait. These people helped me,"

In a halting, awkward tone Milo began replying to the person's speech in their language. The ready warrior was so surprised they dropped their weapon and pulled off their mask. It was the woman that helped Milo. She replied to his statement in wide-eyed surprise. The tension between the groups lessened as the woman and Milo began speaking excitedly to each other, fascinated with each other's conversation. The woman ushered to her companions to get closer and soon all three warriors were conversing with the thin bespectacled man. Milo pointed to Riku, Vincent and Donald and the woman turned to them and smiled, "Welcome friends, welcome to the city of Atlantis!"

Milo and the others returned to where Horge and the rest of crew had been waiting and with the help of the Atlantians, moved the crippled rigs and injured people into the magnificent stone city. Everyone was thrilled to have found Atlantis, but Horge seemed happier than the others. Sinclair, on the other hand, seemed nervous, "Commander, there weren't supposed to be people down here. This changes everything,"

"This changes nothing," Horge replied reassuringly. Vincent had been assigned to the Commander's rig, and upon overhearing that statement, immediately became suspicious.

"How is it possible for the Atlantians to know English, Milo?" Riku asked after having a conversation with a nice Atlantian girl who had helped him move some supplies.

"See the Atlantian language is so complicated, with a grammar and vocabulary unseen in any other human language, that it sort of is the base for all language. Like the Tower of Babel," Milo chirped happily, rereading his journal, "Of course, when you really dissect it, that's not really a thorough enough explanation,"

Milo continued to explain to the confused Riku about the finer nuances of Atlantian speech as they drove into the main part of the city. Horge chuckled to Sinclair as they showed no interest in the amazing city, "He's like a kid at Christmas,"

The woman led them to the palace in the center of the city and Horge, Sinclair, Audrey, Vinny, Mole, Sweet, Milo, Vincent, Riku and Donald were invited into the palace. Though beautiful, it was clear the palace, and most of the city was in growing disrepair. The woman Milo met went in first and bowed before the King. The King nodded back, but looked furious at her. The two spoke in Atlantian and it appeared they were having an argument. The woman shouted angrily at the old king and he cut her off. She became quiet instantly and sighed in defeat and frustration. Horge completely misinterpreted what had happened, "We thank you very much for your hospitality—"

"You are a fool to think you are welcome here," the king cut him off in English, "I will allow you and your men to stay the night, but I want you gone by tomorrow,"

Horge looked completely shocked, "But we have injured men, and much of our machinery needs repair,"

"Then you best not waste the time you have then," The King replied.

"Your Majesty, we are simply peaceful explorers from another world who have come to learn about your great kingdom," Horge tried to explain.

"You claim to be peaceful, yet your men come into my palace with weapons," The king indicated Vincent, whose shotgun was still strapped to his back.

The Heartless man gave off no expression indication that he was either angered or embarrassed by the King's accusation. Instead, Vincent braved to ask a question, "Excuse me sir, but has anyone from your kingdom gone missing? A girl, about sixteen years old?"

The king gave the man a strange look, "No, Stranger. No one from my kingdom has ever gone missing. No one from my world is ever allowed to leave. Nor are outsiders allowed in," Two of the guards surrounding the king stepped forward, making it crystal clear their audience with the monarch was over.


	35. The Heart of Atlantis

Chapter Thirty-four The Heart of Atlantis

"What was that all about?" Horge asked Milo as they group was escorted out of the palace.

"Well, it was a little hard to follow but apparently the King is really not happy about us being here. The good news is though, his daughter seems to like us pretty okay," Milo shrugged.

"What I want to know is, what were you doing? He probably could have had us killed," Riku whispered to Vincent as they stayed behind the group.

"Probably, but I don't think he would have. It looks to me he doesn't want to really hurt us, but it looks like he doesn't want a bunch of outsiders snooping around. Most likely he's hiding something," Vincent replied, "But to answer your question, notice anything about the people who live here?"

Riku and Donald looked around at the people busily attending to their daily lives. Everyone was wearing blue crystals like the one the girl had and they all had white hair and bright blue eyes, "Oh, I see, they sorta look like Matilda. That's why you asked,"

"Bingo. But the king genuinely didn't understand what I was talking about," Vincent nodded, "Looks like another dead-end,"

Horge turned around suddenly, "Alright folks, you've got a few hours to relax, because this evening we're getting ready to leave in the morning. Unless Milo here can weasel some extra time by talking to their princess. She seemed to really like you,"

"S-she did?" Milo stuttered, his glasses slipping off his nose.

"Well, I'm going to go look around," Riku stretched, "That girl I talked to earlier said she would show me some battle moves. See you guys later,"

Riku, Donald and Vincent parted ways along with the rest of the crew. Only Milo hung around the palace gates, determined to talk with the princess. He muttered to himself practicing being assertive, "Listen Princess, I need to talk to you. I have some questions I need answered,"

Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind clasping a hand over his mouth, "Listen, Outsider, I need to talk to you. I have some questions I need answered,"

The princess grabbed Milo's hand and pulled the man to the side and began talking excitedly, "You're from the outside world. What is it like? Who are you? How did you get to Atlantis? You're a scholar right? With your built you can't possibly do anything else," The princess grabbed Milo's glasses off of his head and began examining them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Milo laughed as he gently took his glasses back and slide them onto his face, "How about we ask our questions one at a time. When I answer one of yours, you answer one of mine,"

Though she had gained better control of herself, the warrior woman was still greatly excited, "Okay, first, what is your name?"

Milo just realized despite all they had gone through already, neither knew the other's name, "I'm Milo, Milo Thatch,"

"I am Princess Kidagakesh," the princess said formally.

"Right, Kidararesh, er Kidalanesh," Milo struggled with the pronunciation, "Uh, do you have a nickname?"

She laughed, "Just call me Kida. Since that was your question, I shall ask another. How did you get here, to Atlantis?"

"Oh boy, I gotta tell you, that wasn't easy. First our ship was nearly crushed by a bunch of meteors, then it was blown to pieces by some great machine—"

"No, you misunderstand. I saw the machines and contraptions you traveled on. My warriors and I had been following you for some time," Kida shook her head, "Perhaps I should put it differently, how did you find our world?"

"Oh, I understand. Well to make a long answer short, with this," Milo reached into his rucksack and pulled out the leather bound journal. Upon seeing it Kida's eyes widened greatly and she snatched the book from Milo's hand. Before he could object, she began flipping desperately through it.

"You can understand this?!" Kida's voice was filled with urgency, "You can read this, this writing in this book?"

"Well yeah, I can read and write Atlantian just like you…" Milo's voice trailed off as the princess's eyes looked away from him in embarrassment and shame, "You can't read, can you?"

"No one in our world can," she seemed suddenly very angry, "It was lost to us a long time ago. Our culture has been dying, our people live, but just to survive. My father refuses to see it, he refuses to let our people leave or try to recover what we have lost. We once were a great people, but as the years pass us by, we grow more stupid and weak. A thousand years ago we still had lights,"

"A thousand years ago? You make it sound like you were there,"

"I was,"

Milo was shocked, "Wait a second, exactly how old are you?"

Kida paused a moment, "I believe I am about ten thousand years old. It is difficult to tell anymore since we lost the ability to keep time,"

"Jiminy Christmas! That means you were alive when Atlantis separated from our world," Milo leaned against a tree to absorb what he was just told.

"I was," Kida said strangely, as though she was trying to suppress a strong emotion, "I remember it. The day Atlantis vanished. There were lots of tremors, and the earth was cracking, people were screaming and there was a great red light in the sky. My mother, father and I were running away when a beam of light touched my mother. The light turned into a giant blue star. It took my mother into it…and she disappeared. Come with me,"

She suddenly grabbed Milo's hand and dragged him up the side of a hill. Ahead, flopped to the side was a stylized fish. Milo had noticed several of these sculptures littered around the city. Though heavy looking, Kida pushed it up and steadied it. The cartographer approached it cautiously, "What is it?"

"It is some type of transport vehicle," Kida explained, "I've been trying to get it to work for months. There is writing there, but I don't understand it. If we can get this to work, I can show you something important,"

"I'll try," Milo said modestly. He approached the fish and read the writing above a hand shaped symbol, "Can I see that crystal around your neck?"

Kida looked down to her chest, at first was reluctant to hand it over but trusting the smiling man, passed him the necklace. He reread the instructions and placed the crystal inside a slot above the hand symbol. He place his right hand on the symbol and twisted the crystal. The machine began humming to life and Milo handed Kida back her pendant. The two climbed onto the machine and Kida piloted it.

Soon they were well above Atlantis, and could see almost all the city at once. Milo was in awe at everything he saw and wished his grandfather could see it. But another thought crossed Milo's mind, was it true that Atlantis was dying? The explorers had come to learn Atlantis's secrets, but were they now lost. Suddenly, Kida interrupted him, "I have another question I must ask you Milo, one that my father wanted me to ask you, but one I am curious about myself. Why did you come seeking our world?"

Milo paused a moment, but decided to answer her honestly, "The world of Atlantis was known to be the most advanced civilization of all time and that you possessed powers that even today we don't have. We came here hoping to learn how you came to your powers. But if what you say is true…"

Kida suddenly sent the vehicle into a sharp decent. Milo grabbed onto Kida instinctively, not realizing until they had landed that was holding onto her. He let go of her quickly, the princess neither seemed to notice nor care what Milo had done. Instead she focused on the pool that they had landed in front of. The cartography noticed several sunken ruins sticking out of the water, then he noticed Kida was taking off her clothing until she was just wearing her tube top and bikini bottoms.

"This will be a long journey. You do know how to swim, do you not?" Kida asked the increasingly embarrassed man.

"I can swim pretty girl—pretty good," Milo's voice cracked. The princess dove into the water and Milo pulled off his shirt and left his things on the shore before diving in after her.

"Any luck?" the commander asked Sinclair.

"These people aren't talking," Sinclair replied as she looked irritably at the crew who seemed to be relaxing and having a good time, "It looks like we're going to have to get Thatch to get the information,"

Vincent made it a point to stay out of everybody's way. While Riku and Donald went exploring, the Heartless man stayed behind with the commander, watching every move he made. Ever since he met the man back on the ship, he had a deep distrust of the man. No one from this world knew what a Heartless was, but for some reason, Horge seemed to be full of Darkness.

"Oh shut up!" Riku said irritably to Donald as the two came back. Donald was laughing his head off and Riku looked completely embarrassed, "So she beat me, no big deal,"

"Oh, you weren't just beaten, you had your dignity handed to you. You didn't stand a chance against that girl," Donald could barely breath he was laughing so hard. Both Horge and Vincent noticed the crewmember's return.

"Hey you two," Horge called to their attention, "Have you seen Milo at all. Last time I saw him, he was with you and Valentine,"

"As a matter of fact we did. He was with that princess girl. It was weird, they went swimming in this big pool," Riku said innocently.

"Did he now?" Horge grinned. He looked to Sinclair, "Looks like we won't need to ask Thatch anything, he's already done it for us. Get everybody together and get the toys together. Mind showing us where you saw him, Riku?"

Before Vincent could interrupt, Riku already answered, "Sure, I don't see why not,"

As Kida had said, the journey was long, and had Milo's lungs not been begging for air, it would have been longer. It seemed the city of Atlantis Milo had seen above was only a fraction of the submerged city below. Kida finally stopped and treaded water in front of a great mosaic. Milo swam to her and began looking on the wall. He studied the scene and became excited. Four giant beings were surrounding a city, above it was a giant blue star, orbited by faces. In the center of the blue star was the same symbol that appeared on Milo's journal. He looked to the mosaic and then to Kida and pointed to her crystal necklace. She gave him a confused look and then he motioned to the air pocket that was above the mosaic wall. As soon as he surfaced and gasped in a lung full of air, he began speaking excitedly.

"This is it, this is what I was looking for!" Milo was downright giddy, "The power source, the power of all Atlantians!"

"What did the mosaic say?!" Kida seemed desperate.

"Well the way I'll put it will be a bit more to the point that those scriptures but basically, that wall said that Atlantis is protected by a crystal heart. A crystal like you and the rest of the Atlantians wear, except way bigger and way more powerful. It's what's powering this city and keeping all of Atlantis alive. That star you saw, the one that took your mother, it was that crystal," he explained.

"But why would this crystal take my mother? And where is it now?"

"I have no idea," Milo looked down in thought, "It doesn't make any sense though. Why would the author of the journal be so vague about something so important?"

Kida sighed, "Thank you for helping me. We should probably get back,"

"You're probably right,"

The princess and cartographer swam back the way they came, left with more questions than answers. This left the linguist more frustrated than ever. Tomorrow he would have to leave, he would never discover what became of the heart, and worst of all, he would not be able to see Kida ever again. When he surfaced again he had planned to tell her how he felt, even if they knew each other a short time, he knew he was in love with her. But instead of being able to say anything to, someone grabbed him out of the water by his hair.

He was pulled to his feet and when he realized what had happened he noticed three things: Kida was being held captive, there were men with guns pointing at him and Commander Horge was behind those two things. Behind the first row of gunners, among them Dr. Sweet and Vinny, Horge was standing with a smug smile on his face, holding a piece of paper in his hand, "Glad to see you back Thatch, and it looks like you've found what we're looking for,"

Milo was both confused and furious, "What are you talking about?!"

"The treasure," Horge showed Milo the piece of paper he was holding. It was the missing page from his journal, the one that had described the Heart of Atlantis in full detail, including a picture that looked much like the mosaic, "Don't tell me you went all the way down there and didn't find it,"

"No, Kida was just showing me some ruins! What are you doing, Horge?!" Milo demanded.

"I'm afraid I just don't believe that Milo. Even if it wasn't there, there's no way you don't know where it is," Horge continued.

"And what if I refuse to help you?" Milo demanded.

"Oh, I don't think you will," Horge snapped his fingers and one of them men holding Kida cocked his weapon.

"Okay, it's clear Horge is crazy, but Sweet, Vinny, Audrey, the rest of you, why are you helping this lunatic?" Milo demanded, looking at Kida and the weapon now aimed squarely at her head to the people he formerly thought were his friends.

"I told you, Thatch, the treasure. I might not be a big reader, but I love pretty pictures. And if this picture means there is a gem bigger than a man somewhere around, it could be worth a fortune back home,"

"This was just a treasure hunt to you. This was never about exploring and learning Atlantis's secrets. You're all just a bunch of bounty hunters!" Milo snarled.

"We prefer the term 'enrichment explorers'. And don't act so high and mighty, Thatch, how do you think museums get filled and you get your hands on all those fancy old texts? Somebody has to take them from someone," Horge explained. Suddenly Kida broke away from her captures and pulled out a dagger. She launched herself Horge but was tackled to the ground. More gunners appeared and surrounded her, all of them with their weapons ready to fire.

Milo knew he couldn't put Kida's life in danger. He took the page from Horge and looked down, "Fine, I'll help you,"

As he was being pushed to the front of the line, just behind the captive princess, Milo cast a betrayed look to Audrey, Mrs. Packard, Cooky, Mole, Vinny and Sweet. None of them could stand to look the young man in the eye.

As Horge commanded his crew to move forward and gather their rigs together Vincent, Donald and Riku were no where to be seen.


	36. The King's Secret

Chapter Thirty-five The King's Secret

_Vincent's escape from the dungeons of Hollow Bastion was not easy, the details were lost in a haze of white hot rage and determination. Vincent refused to be treated like a beast. He was not a monster, he was not one of…__**them.**_

_For days now he had searched for his friends, Ansem had not told him where the Turks had gone before stealing his heart. Heartless. The reality of his condition had not set in yet. He was still in denial of what had happened to him. He was sure that numb feeling would just go away soon, it would only be a matter of time._

_Outside a bar he found the familiar black Gummi Ship of his friends, Vincent was not relieved to see it, he felt nothing looking at it. He stepped inside and saw his friends Rude, Reno, Elena and Tseng sitting and laughing over drinks and food. They were talking about their latest adventure, about how they defeated a giant monster at a palace, but destroyed the palace in the process. Vincent approached them. Suddenly Reno shuddered like he was cold and turned around quickly._

"_Vin? It that really you?!" Reno was so surprised he spilled his drink onto Elena. She didn't notice. None of the Turks noticed. They were all staring at Vincent._

"_I-I don't believe it! It really is Vincent. How is this possible? You went missing in Hollow Bastion, we thought you were dead!" Elena explained._

"_Vincent, what happened to your hand?" Tseng asked. In the black suit all the Turks wore his golden claw was clearly visible. As was the black and red mark of the Heartless that was brandished over Vincent's breast pocket._

"_He's a Heartless," Rude stated. The Turks pulled out their guns, "Stay away from us, you're dangerous. You've seen what those things do, they take your hearts and turn you into monsters. We don't want to become monsters,"_

"_I wouldn't steal your hearts, you guys are my friends," Vincent said matter-of-factly._

_Rude cocked his weapon, "Not anymore you're not. Heartless don't have friends,"_

"Try it again!" Riku demanded.

"I told you, healing magic doesn't work on Heartless!" Donald yelled back, "I've already tried three times. I can't keep wasting my magic like this,"

Vincent was slumped against a broken stone wall, his black Heartless blood was oozing out a gaping hole in his chest. He was unresponsive. Riku paced back and forth desperately, running his fingers through his hair, "Vincent you stupid Heartless! Why did you have to go and do that! I could have handled him, I would have been fine on my own,"

"_Now that's a good boy," Horge said praisingly after Riku offered to show the commander where he had seen Kida and Milo dive underwater. Sinclair returned with several crew members, all holding long crates. Someone grabbed a crowbar and started opening crate after crate, inside each one were several riffles and belts full of bullets._

_Riku was confused, "What do we need those for?"_

"_What do you think kid? That they're just going to hand over their treasure? We didn't come all the way down here to leave empty-handed. Especially after their king said we can only stay a day," Horge immediately turned to Vincent, "Well Valentine, it looks like it's your time to shine. With your aim and experience, I'm going to be counting on you to do most of the heavy lifting,"_

_Vincent said and did nothing. Riku exchanged horrified looks with Donald, "We are not going to help you rob and hurt the Atlantians!"_

"_Well son, you'd better. When you signed up for the crew, you agreed to do everything I ordered you to," Horge put matter-of-factly._

"_When you put it that way…" Riku paused. Suddenly, he summoned his sword and charged at Horge. Sinclair grabbed her gun from her belt and shot at Riku. A golden claw grabbed the white haired boy's shoulder and pushed him out of the way. The lieutenant's bullet hit Vincent squarely in the chest, sending the man backwards and slamming against a wall, he did not move. Dr. Sweet ran over and pushed his pointer and middle fingers against the Heartless man's neck and shook his head._

"_He doesn't have a pulse," Sweet said sadly. The doctor suddenly had a reluctant look on his face._

"_Sinclair, now why did you have to go off and kill Valentine like that? He was one of my most useful men," Horge said irritably. Sinclair shrugged apologetically. Riku and Donald ran over to Vincent's unmoving body and looked back to Horge, "I assume this means this is your resignation?"_

_Riku snarled and gripped his sword tightly. Donald held his scepter up, ready for a battle._

"_Fine, just don't think you can get a ride back with us, or that you'll get paid that ship you wanted," The commander motioned to the crew and grabbing weapons and tools. They followed Horge out of camp, leaving Riku and Donald behind with Vincent, and without any visible way of ever finding Sora or the others again._

"Stupid Heartless!" Riku screamed again, grabbing Vincent's cape and shaking him violently, "Why'd you have to play hero now, sacrificing yourself like that? Don't you know that that's Sora's most annoying quality?!"

Suddenly a fist collided painfully with Riku's jaw, sending the young man backward. The boy was dazed but could barely make out Vincent gingerly rubbing the back of his head. Donald squawked, "He's alive!"

"Of course I'm alive," Vincent said hoarsely. He pulled himself to his feet and his blood pulled itself back inside his body and he healed, "You've never seen a Heartless get destroyed with one shot before, have you?"

"But you weren't moving. And Sweet said you had no pulse…" Riku babbled, still rubbing his jaw.

"I got knocked out when I hit my head. And of course I wouldn't have a pulse, remember that Sweet couldn't hear my heartbeat during our physicals. No heart, no pulse," Vincent explained. He noticed he was still wearing the crew's uniform, "I don't think I want to wear this thing anymore. Let's get out of these rags and help Milo."

"I told you what it said already!" Milo said in a tone of a controlled scream. Horge shoved Milo and Kida through the doors to the throne room. The guards brandished their weapons to protect their king, but upon seeing his daughter in danger, the King told the guards to pull back.

"Then just humor me and read it again," Horge waved the ripped page in Milo's face patronizingly.

"All it says is 'the Heart of Atlantis is in the eyes of our King'. If it said anymore I'd read it," the cartographer exasperated.

"If that's the case, then he knows," Horge marched forward and slammed the king in the gut. Kida screamed as the frail old man buckled down, "Where's the heart, we know you know!"

"I will never tell you," the king said feebly. Horge threatened to hit the man again. Milo was about to protest, but surprisingly another one of the crew spoke up.

"Hold on Horge, I didn't sign up for this. People weren't supposed to get hurt. You already killed Valentine, I'm not going to be a part of this if it's going to involve blood," Sweet said decisively. Though the doctor's warnings were futile, Milo couldn't help being just a bit happy that someone was taking a stand.

Horge ignored Sweet and was about to hit the king again but instead he noticed something from the throne. The stones that made up the garden in the throne room looked like the symbol on Milo's journal, "The Heart of Atlantis is in the eyes of Our King,"

The commander motioned to Sinclair and with her riffle, pushed Milo and Kida to the center of the garden. The three of them and Horge stepped on the center stone and the palace began rumbling. Slowly the floor sank, revealing a chamber beneath. As the pedestal the four were standing on continued its decent an eerie blue light filled the chamber. In the center of the cavernous room, floating above a deep pool of water was the Heart of Atlantis. The fluid giant blue crystal was orbited by giant carved faces. As the pedestal finally stopped on the ground Kida collapsed onto her knees and wept, "The Kings of our Past!"

"Can we hurry this along?" Horge said insensitively as Kida said a chanting prayer in Atlantian. Milo helped her gently to her feet and gave the commander a look of burning hatred, "Well Thatch, how do we get the crystal?"

"Do I look like an engineer? There is a giant suspended object a hundred feet in the air over a pool of water, goodness knows how deep," Milo snapped, kicking a small stone into the pool to illustrate his point. Suddenly the crystal turned from calm blue to a violent red, shooting out beams of light all around it. One of the beams of light hit the crystal on Kida's neck and turned white. Kida looked as though she were in a trance and began walking towards the water. Milo called out after her, "Kida!"

"All will be alright, Milo Thatch," She said in Atlantian. She walked off the shore of the pool and began treading on top of the surface of the water. When she stepped directly under the crystal another beam of light appeared and pulled her up. She disappeared in the light as the crystal became blue again and changed forms. The crystal solidified into a statue, one that looked like the princess of Atlantis.

"You can't do this!" Milo begged as the crystallized Kida was placed inside a crate, "You don't understand how important she is. You think the crystal is some kind of giant jewel, I thought it was some kind of battery. We're both wrong. This crystal is what's keeping these people alive. It extends their lives, powers them, allows them to heal. The crystal is just as much a part of them as they are a part of it. It is the Heart of all these people, if you take it, they'll be doomed!"

"Now, that changes everything," Horge laughed.

"Yes, with a story like that we can sell it for ten times as much as we were asked for," Sinclair sneered. Suddenly a shot buzzed by her ear.

"You're not taking that crystal anywhere," A voice called from above. Vincent, Riku and Donald were standing above the palace, prepared to attack again.

"Valentine?! Y-you were dead!" Horge blurted, the first time the man showed any kind of surprise, "What are you?"

"I am what those people will become if you take that crystal," Vincent jumped down from the ruin and landed eye to eye with the commander. Though momentarily taken aback, Horge recovered and made a gesture.

Suddenly all of the crew were aiming their riffles at the Heartless. While he may have survived one blast, Vincent knew this many guns would definitely destroy his Heartless body. He stepped back in front of Milo to protect him. Riku and Donald followed suit, jumping down from the ruins and surrounded Milo. And much to everyone's surprise, Sweet stepped back with Milo and put his hand on the cartographer's shoulder. Horge rolled his eyes irritably, "Now that everybody's made up their mind, let's head out,"

"Looks like you'll be able to open another shop with your dad, Audrey," Milo called out as the crew began driving away. One of the rigs suddenly stopped, " And Vinny, now you can open a whole chain of flower shops! Think you'll ever run out of bacon ever again, Cooky?"

More and more rigs stopped and Audrey, Vinny, Mole, Mrs. Packard and Cooky jumped out and took their stand with Milo. Horge merely shrugged, "Less ways to split the money,"

Without another word, the rest of the crew drove over the bridge and returned back to the tunnels. As the crystal left Atlantis, the observing Atlantians saw the pendants around their necks stop glowing. Mrs. Packard flicked her cigarette, "That was a beautiful sentiment, but this means we're going to die now,"

"No, it doesn't," Milo shook his head and ran back into the palace. The king's guards were trying to support him, it was clear Horge's blows wounded the man more than expected.

"Kida…" the King said feebly.

Milo turned to Sweet and Donald, "Can you help him?"

"We'll try," Sweet nodded and brought out his instruments. Donald started waving his arms to cast a healing spell. The king pushed them away.

"No, do not worry about me, I am an old man that has seen millennia rise and fall. Save Kida, bring me back my daughter. Do not let her become like her mother," The king gasped.

"What are you talking about?" Milo demanded.

"The state of this world is my fault. Like a fool I tried to use the crystal to create war and my attempts backfired on me, causing this country to begin collapsing on itself. The crystal saved us, but in order to do so, it had to use a human host. It chose Kida's mother, my beloved wife, and we were saved. But she was lost," The king's breath was getting more and more shallow, "Young man, I was wrong about you, it is clear you care about this world. Take my pendant and go, go and save my daughter!"

With his last ounce of strength, the king took off his necklace and handed it to Milo. Milo nodded solemnly. He turned to Sweet and Donald and commanded, "Watch over the king, I'm getting the princess back,"

Without wasting any time Milo ran outside the palace and began using his crystal to turn on the fish shaped sculptures. The Atlantians looked at him curiously, not sure what he was doing. Riku walked up to him, "Milo, what's going on?"

"A fight," Milo replied simply and began showing the other Atlantians what the fish machines were capable of, "See, do this,"

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Riku jumped onto a fish machine that looked like a shark behind the Atlantian girl he had spent the day with. Other Atlantians did the same and began flying out of the city to follow their princess.

"Got anything sporty, like a tuna?" Vinny asked. Milo glared at him and the demolitions expert jumped on the nearest fish.

"You'd better come with me," Audrey said as she grabbed Milo's hand and got in the driver's seat of her machine. Vincent chose to climb on as well. Audrey gave the Heartless a dubious look but said to Milo, "We're gonna go after Horge ourselves, but I've got to warn you: we might be able to outnumber him now, but he's never surprised,"

The fleet of Atlantians warriors caught up quickly to Horge and his crew. Though it was clear the Atlantian machines were faster and more advanced than their former commander's, Horge's forces still had weapons. The Atlantian vehicles were seemingly defenseless. Riku and his copilot managed to dodge a hail of bullets from a machine gun but were losing patience, "How are we going to get the princess back if we can't fight back?!"

Suddenly Vinny pressed a panel on his vehicle and a beam of energy blasted out of his fish and disintegrated one of Horge's flying rigs, "That'll work,"

"Yo Milo, Horge is just up ahead!" Audrey called out.

"You said we'd probably have him outnumbered!" Milo squawked.

"I also said Horge is never surprised," Audrey replied.

"I managed to surprise him before," Vincent called out as he loaded his weapon, "I'll do it again,"

Audrey followed Horge up the winding tunnels as the Atlantians, Vinny and Mole fought against their former crew. The three realized where the commander was heading with the crystallized princess: the magma chamber of the dormant volcano. At the sealed entrance, some of Vinny's dynamite was wired at the top, ready to blow and provide escape to Horge's Gummi Ship. Milo snarled, "He's going to get away!"

"Not if we can help it!" Audrey announced as she observed the crate hanging from a chain below the balloon shaped Gummi, "You go and try to stop Horge. Vincent and I will cut the princess free,"

Horge spotted Vincent, Audrey and Milo catching up to them quickly. He realized he would need to outrun them if he had any chance of escape, "We need to lighten the load!"

Sinclair had also seen the machine's approach and was already dumping cans of fuel and extra ammo outside the cockpit, "There's nothing more we can get rid of unless one of us wants to jump,"

"Ladies first," Suddenly Horge seized Sinclair and threw her out of the ship. She screamed as she fell past Milo and the others and hit the ground. Horge called after her jovially, "Nothing personal!"


	37. Reunited

Chapter Thirty-six Reunited

Audrey used the fish machine as a battering ram as she slammed it into the crate carrying Kida. She and Vincent jumped off and started hacking at the chain attaching the crate to the Gummi. Milo took over the controls and elevated the Atlantian war machine up several feet and jumped into the Gummi with its cockpit still open. Seeing a crowbar, Milo grabbed it and prepared to face Horge. But before he could react, someone slammed him in the back of the head.

"Why don't you just shoot the darn chain!" Audrey yelled at Vincent as he tried to use his golden claw to cut the attachment holding the crystallized Atlantian princess to Horge's escape Gummi Ship.

"One of my bullets would break the chain, but it probably will kill us all," Vincent said bluntly. The ship above suddenly jerked to the side, knocking Vincent and Audrey off the crate.

"Nothing personal," Lt. Sinclair whispered as she disabled the ship with a final shot. As the smoke wafted away from the barrel of her gun, her body went limp. The Heartless man barely caught one of the chains below the crate with his claw and held on tightly to Audrey with his other hand.

Meanwhile in the cockpit of the Gummi ship, Horge delivered blow after blow to Milo, whose face was now covered with his own blood, "Congratulations son, you've one the Golden Kewpie Doll for most stupidly heroic,"

Milo's head was spinning, he could feeling himself growing weaker and felt the ship losing altitude quickly. Horge realized the same thing, and in an act of anger seized a fireman's ax and aimed it at the cartographer. With an act of pure adrenaline, Milo leapt out of the way and fell out of the ship onto the crate below. Crazed and furious, Horge followed, swinging his ax back and forth trying to hit Milo. Milo lost balance and fell backwards on one of the chains. In the last second he moved his head out of the way and Horge struck the glass window of Kida's crate. A blue light hissed and fizzed and crystallized over Horge's ax, making him unable to remove his weapon. Seeing his chance, Milo grabbed a shard of glass covered with the liquid blue light and with a desperate act sliced Horge's arm. The cut was merely superficial, drawing barely any blood and the evil commander wretched his ax free. Milo didn't move, he had no more energy to fight back.

Or so it seemed. Horge grinned mercilessly as he prepared to strike Milo with the ax, but the smile soon faded for a look of fear. The arm Milo sliced began to crystallize like the ax had and the light spread until Horge turned completely into a living crystal. He was taken aback momentarily until he realized he could still move. Milo flinched, waiting for the final blow as he acknowledged his plan failed. But as he prepared to strike Milo again a blast hit the man and sent the evil being apart in a million shards. Audrey was smiling and Vincent's riffle had smoke coming from the barrel.

The Gummi ship finally crashed to the bottom of the magma chamber and Milo frantically disconnected Kida's crate from Horge's ship and attached it the Atlantian fish machine. The entire cavern began to tremor and the three realized they had to leave. They lifted the princess into the air and began to head back out the tunnel. Milo and the others rushed past the still raging battle between Horge's forces and Atlantis, but as soon as the Atlantians saw Milo rush the opposite direction with the crate, they realized they should follow. The quaking in the tunnel increased and Mole looked frantic, "The volcano! She is about to erupt!"

It was a race to beat the hot magma as the Atlantians flew back to the city. The heat and light of the rushing lava was just behind them and if they made any mistakes, it would mean certain destruction. Audrey crash-landed her fish in front of the palace and using the crowbar from Horge's ship Milo forced open the crate with Kida. As soon as he touched the bar to the box, the crate seemed to burst apart. Kida was moving again and while everyone was panicking as the lava threatened to destroy them she calmly walked to a point in the middle of the city and spread her arms out wide. A light as blue as her crystal body poured down from her and lit up every line and relief etched on the ground and on every building. From the chamber below ground, the stone-carved faces of the kings of the past burst up and began rapidly spinning around the princess. She floated into the air as the faces spun faster and faster. On the far reaches of the city the giant statues came to life and spread their arms protectively over the city as the magma broke through the tunnels and began burning the surrounding cliffs and waterfalls. The lava threatened to wash over the city like a wave, light poured between the giant's arms and connected to Kida forming a wall over the entire city of Atlantis. The lava blasted against it harmlessly, oozing down the wall of light and hardening harmlessly before vanishing completely. The spinning faces slowed down to a calm orbit and a figure floated down from the crystal. Milo ran to catch the gently sinking figure

Kida was back to normal. And Atlantis was saved.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Sweet asked as Vincent, Riku and Donald packed their Gummi Ships with supplies.

"Nah," Riku said cheerfully, "I'm sure your world is cool and all, but I have a hopeless idiot I'm in charge of protecting. Who knows what kind of trouble he's gotten into without us,"

"It was a real trip meeting you three," Audrey sighed as she helped pack other Gummi Ships to go back to her own world.

"Surely there is more than a ship that you would like as a reward?" Kida asked. Sweet and the others were loading gold and treasures, and despite Donald's greed Riku and Vincent had declined.

"No, we're good," Riku repeated. Donald clearly disagreed, but chose to say nothing about it.

"Riku, Donald, Vincent," Milo began quietly, "I can never thank you enough for all the help you've given me. If it weren't for you guys I'd never have the courage to fight like that,"

"I'm sure you would have Milo. But if you want to really thank us, just name your kids after us," Riku said deviously. Milo broke into a sweat and he and Kida exchanged shy smiles. Vincent and Donald brought out their final supplies and prepared to board the ship.

"It's time to go," Vincent said bluntly.

"Hey Vincent," Sweet called out, "There's a lot more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

"Well, that's really for you to decide. I just am who I am," Vincent shrugged. The cockpit on their Atlantian Gummi Ship hissed closed and gently lifted into the air. It seemed like the entire country was waving goodbye to them as the world became further and further away, until all that could be seen was the liquid blue crystal that hovered over the city like a protective sun.

Riku sighed as they left the world but soon turned to other pressing matters, "Well, this ship has working radio, let's see if we can get in contact with the Excalibur,"

"Hello, is anyone there?" A voice sputtered through the cracked screen. The image was very hazy and it was difficult to see who was talking, "Contacting the Excalibur. Can you read me?"

"That sounds like Riku!" Sora couldn't suppress his excitement, "Riku, is that you? It's me, Sora!"

"Sora?" The voice sputtered back, "It's good to hear from you pal, I hope you haven't done anything stupid without me,"

Goofy, Kairi, Lulu and Matilda began talking excitedly, trying to push Sora out of the way, but Sora stayed firm, "Oh, you know, the usual. Are the others with you, are they okay?"

"We're just fine!" Donald said in the background, "Now Riku, get out of the way so I can see where I'm driving,"

"What world did you end up on? We'll fly to you," Vincent's deep monotone voice broke through the static. Matilda looked as though she's about to cry and almost instantly, Lulu stopped rubbing her collarbone.

"We're on a world called Kuzcotopia," Sora replied.

"Well, according to this map we're not too far from you then," Riku began, "We'll probably be there within an hour. See you then. And don't get yourself blown up in the meantime. If I'm destined to be with these two for the rest of my life, I'll go crazy,"

A sound of pain and scuffling went off in the background as the transmission ended. Sora and the others asked for Pacha's help in preparing for their friends' arrival. At the Excalibur, the Keyblade Master and his friends set up a table full of food and waited. Nobody could sit still as the hour seemed to drag on. Suddenly a black dot appeared in the sky and as it got closer and closer the group could make out the shape of a black and blue Gummi Ship. The group shouted and waved as the ship landed, and as the cockpit hissed open, everyone ran over to greet their formerly lost friends. Goofy ran over and pulled Donald out into a tight hug before the duck could even undo his seat belt. As Riku jumped out Sora tried to give him a tackling hug but instead ended up in one of the white haired boy's infamous headlocks.

"You're getting slow, Sora. It's only been a few weeks and you're already getting weak on me," Riku laughed as he let his friend up and gave him and Kairi a proper hug.

A blinding streak of black and white nearly knocked Vincent over as he climbed out of the ship. Matilda had attached herself to Vincent's neck and was sobbing, "Oh Vincent, I was worried I'd never see you again. I almost lost hope!"

"Hey, what did I tell you about not crying," Vincent reminded the girl of their deal.

Matilda shook her head, "But these are happy tears!" Vincent sighed in defeat and the girl stuck on tight and Piff flew around the group's head whinnying. Lulu said nothing nor approached the group, but when she and Vincent made eye contact, she made no attempt to hide her relieved smile.


	38. The Hostile Takeover

Chapter Thirty-seven Hostile Takeover

That evening, Sora, Kairi, Riku and the others didn't worry about Heartless or the dangers Matilda was in. Instead they celebrated being reunited with the dear friends that they had feared were lost forever. The next day they set aside their jubilation and happiness and concentrated on their mission: to find Matilda's real home. They had wasted much time being separated from each other and had no idea what M or the other villains had been doing.

Kuzco had Yzma's Gummi Ship brought down from the palace and had it set next to the Atlantian ship. The group separated back into their tradition division: Matilda, Piff, Lulu and Vincent in one ship, the rest of the group in the other, when the radio from the Excalibur sparked to life one final time. Riku and Sora exchanged confused glances as they tried to figure out who would try to contact them. The transmission from the radio was even more fizzled and unclear than ever but the message came in loud and clear, "Donald, Donald where are you pal, I need to talk to you,"

"Hey Donald, there's a message for you," Sora called out to the duck magician.

"Doesn't that sound like that pilot guy Launchpad?" Riku asked.

Donald ran over irritably and stood in front of the radio, "What is it?"

"Oh Donald, I'm glad I'm in contact with you buddy, I've been trying to get in touch with you for two weeks now," the voice said with a sigh of relief.

"Who is this?" the duck asked.

"It's me, Launchpad. Donald, Mr. McD's been kidnapped!" Launchpad said frantically.

"WHAT! Unca Scrooge?! What happened?" Donald began asking urgently.

"I don't have time to explain, just get back to Magic Kingdom, now!" the radio cut out. Donald tried to reconnect with Launchpad, zapping the ship with lightning, but the ship had finally died.

"We're going back to Magic Kingdom!" Donald announced, "If my unca is in trouble, we've got to help him!"

Sora and the others wasted no time in heading to Magic Kingdom. Even with the danger to Matilda growing more and more apparent with each adventure that they had, they were not willing to see a friend's family member get hurt. With the new ships from Atlantis and Yzma they arrived at the small blue and green world in little time. As they landed in the courtyard of the castle, they could see Launchpad, Darkwing Duck and Donald's nephews Huey Dewey and Louie waiting for them. Donald was the first one to get out and rushed over to his uncle's employee and his nephews.

Launchpad was clearly very distraught, "Man, oh man, this is all my fault!"

"No it's not Launchpad," Huey tried to say comfortingly.

"Yes it is, if I just listened to Mr. McD this never would have happened!" Launchpad was racked with guilt.

"What exactly happened?" Sora asked as he caught up to Donald.

"We were going to visit Unca Scrooge after our Junior Woodchucks meeting at the restaurant," Dewey explained, "When we saw a bunch of bad guys drag Unca Scrooge out the kitchen, he was trying to hit them off with his cane but they were too strong. We tried to help but Unca Scrooge told us to go tell some adults,"

Louie continued the story, "We found Launchpad working with Darkwing Duck and told him what had happened. We came back here as fast as we could but it was too late. The restaurant and a bunch of other buildings owned by Unca Scrooge were trashed and he was gone,"

"And that's when we found this note," Huey reached into his sweater and handed a piece of paper to Donald. Donald began to garble furiously and shoved the letter to Sora who was still greatly confused. The paper was the kind of fancy stationary that a big time business would use. The crest looked like a rearing tiger crushing a planet.

After reading the words on the page Sora understood and angrily crushed the paper in his hands, "Mr. Scrooge was kidnapped by Sher Khan, that business man from Cape Suzette and he's holding him for ransom,"

"Ransom? What does he want?" Riku asked his friend.

"Matilda," Sora replied with a hiss.

"Matilda? No way!" Riku grabbed the paper from Sora's hand and read the note for himself.

"That must mean Sher Khan has been working for M this whole time," Kairi concluded, "But what are we going to do? We're clearly not going to give Matilda to that villain, but we can't let Donald's uncle get hurt either,"

"Well, isn't it obvious? We'll do what we always do," Sora smiled, "We go, we kick some Heartless villain butt and save the day. Onward to Cape Suzette!"

"Not so fast Sora," Darkwing Duck interrupted, "Since Scrooge McDuck's disappearance, the Air Pirates are back and in full force. Launchpad and I have already tried a rescue, our ship was nearly blown out of the sky,"

"Not a problem. I know a pilot who can get past the Air Pirates easily," Vincent remarked.

"So do I," Sora added, "Besides, if the Air Pirates are back we need to have a talk with them. I distinctly remember told Don Carnage that if he didn't knock it off, I'd be back,"

As it turns out, Vincent and Sora had the same person in mind, Baloo the bear pilot. They found him getting ready to fly off to Cape Suzette and when they explained the situation to him, he was more than happy to oblige the group, "Taking care of Don Carnage and ol' Stripey? You bet I'll help. Not every day you can that kind of action,"

Baloo, his son Kit, Donald's nephews, Darkwing Duck, Launchpad, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy gathered supplies for a battle and loaded onto the plane. But as Matilda tried to come on, Vincent and Sora stopped her, "You're not coming with us, you're staying here and going back to King Mickey's castle with Lulu,"

"Why can't I come? I'm obviously a lot older than Kit, Huey, Dewey and Louie," Matilda whined.

"Because you're exactly what Sher Khan is after. You coming with us will put you in danger." Vincent said sternly.

"But that's exactly why I need to come with you. Because I'm what this M guy is after, I keep putting all of you in danger. I've been so useless, I don't remember anything about who I am or where I'm from. And when I finally do remember anything it only leads to dead ends. I have to do something to help. I'll help fight with whatever I can. I'm not just going to stand on the sidelines anymore," Matilda said angrily, "Whether I'm there or not doesn't change anything, because even when I'm not there you guys get hurt. If you're going to be in danger because of me, I've got at least do something to carry my own weight on this journey. I'm not going to hide. Besides, if I help you'll have another person on your side!"

"No tears?" Vincent asked.

"No tears!" Matilda said seriously. And with that, Matilda and Lulu climbed into the Seaduck and the plane took off for Cape Suzette.

Almost immediately hordes of the Air Pirates came from the horizon, targeted the Seaduck and began shooting. Baloo didn't look worried, "Since the last time, I've had some upgrades put onto the ship,"

As he swerved and wove through the attacking Air Pirates, Baloo pointed to some new switches and a joystick that controlled a cannon. Vincent stared, and had he had his heart he probably would have sighed, "Let me guess, you let Cid install the upgrades,"

"How'd you know?" Baloo laughed. Vincent just shook his head. The plane shook slightly from taking a hit. The cabin began flashing red, "Shoot. I should have zigged when I zagged. If we take another hit we're toast. I'm not the gun aim kind of guy, so if anyone knows how to operate this new toy Cid gave me, now's the time to step forward,"

Kit jumped out of the way to let Darkwing Duck take control of the cannon. He pulled the joystick forward and began shooting at the air pirates. Dozens fell into the water below as the duck hero shot the cannon, but he was shooting more often than he was hitting, and as the crowd of Air Pirates thinned, they became harder to hit. Baloo managed to stay agile between the lesser amount of fighter planes, but the initial hit slowed him down.

"I see another wave of them up ahead. They're blocking Louie's so we can't land," Launchpad observed as Baloo's copilot, "If we can't shake the guys we've got off now, we don't stand a chance against those ones up ahead,"

"Argh! They are too fast, my aim's not good enough. And we're running out of power for the cannon too," Darkwing vented.

"Guess that means it's my turn. I've been blasted out of the sky too many times already. I'm really getting sick of it," Vincent took over as Darkwing stepped back. The Heartless's aim didn't fail. Within moments the remnants of the first wave were gone and half of the approaching second wave were dropping into the water below, however, a problem erupted. The joystick clicked weakly as Vincent pulled the trigger and cannon began repeating a warning noise, it was out of power.

The second wave proved to be faster and have more powerful weapons than the first. It was the worst time possible to run out of ammo. Riku, Donald and Goofy all looked to Sora for answers, "Baloo, do you have extra ammunition somewhere on the plane?"

"Not likely, the cannon runs on electricity. The batteries are huge, the one that powers the cannon barely fits under weight requirements for flight. An extra one would make the Seaduck a very well protected paperweight,"

"Electricity, that's it!" Sora suddenly had a stroke of inspiration, "Launchpad, show us where the battery is. Lulu, Donald, use your thunder magic to recharge the battery,"

"Great idea Sora. I'm getting worried though, you've been having too many of those lately," Riku remarked, "But what do we do in the meantime? Until the battery is recharged, we're sitting ducks,"

"Uh…I haven't thought of that yet," Sora laughed nervously, Riku groaned. Kit grabbed a rope and opened up his skyboard.

Baloo noticed it immediately, "No way little britches. Not in this fight, you're not going out there,"

"Out there?" And with that, Sora had his next brilliant idea. Though Baloo didn't let Kit go out on his skyboard, he let Sora, Riku, Kairi and Goofy outside to keep the planes off until the cannon was recharged. Remembering magic he hadn't used in years, Sora transformed his clothing and gained Wisdom Mode and began shooting light from his Keyblade. Riku and Kairi kept him protected while Goofy helped out by throwing his shield. Sora desperately hoped the cannon would be charged soon, Wisdom Mode didn't last long and he could feel the power slipping away.

Despite feeling his body being drained of strength, Sora fought to keep the other planes away from the Seaduck, but finally his power gave out on him. His clothing and Keyblade went back to normal and he collapsed into Riku and Kairi's arms. He had bought enough time. They could hear the cannon whirl to life and the four ran back into the plane. Vincent began blasting the ships again, and without a single wasted shot cleared the sky and got past Louie's and continued on to Cape Suzette. The island city was just ahead on the horizon now but one final obstacle remained: a large fast looking plane that clearly belonged to Don Carnage.

"Not again," Vincent said irritably.


	39. To Protect and Serve

Chapter Thirty-eight To Protect and Serve

Don Carnage's plane zoomed up to the Seaduck's altitude and blocked their way. From his radio, the captain of the Air Pirates contacted the group, "This is the great Don Carnage. As a quite wonderful and dashing person I am giving you the option to retreat. Hand over the girl with strange eyes and I shall allow you to return to Toon Town,"

"Fat chance Donny. Now get out of the way before we get mad," Baloo snapped back.

Despite being on the verge of collapse, Sora forced himself to the cockpit and grabbed the radio from Baloo, "Don Carnage, this is Sora the Keyblade Master. I told you the last time we were here that if you cause trouble for the pilots we'd be back to take care of you. Now let us into Cape Suzette!"

"Ha, you do not scare me, Keyblade Master. I have the full powers of Darkness behind me and my ship is indestructible. There is nothing you can do," And with that, dozens of flying Heartless filled the air. The sheer number and aggression of this new flock made the other Air Pirates seem like child's play. Vincent, however, was no child. As soon as the Heartless tried to attack the plane, Vincent blasted them out of the sky. He didn't miss a single one, but with their sheer numbers, the cannon ran out of power again.

"No, not again!" Riku snarled, "We can't beat off this many Heartless while waiting for the cannon to be recharged again,"

"Besides, Sora is out of strength," Kairi added worriedly.

"I'll be fine," Sora stated, but as soon as he tried to walk out of the cockpit, he collapsed to his knees and began sweating profusely.

Lulu walked over to the Keyblade master and gave him a potion. Sora drank the concoction without complaint and the witch placed her hand on the boy's forehead, "The potion will recover some of his strength, but you are correct in saying we don't have enough time or power. Master Donald and I used as much of out magic as possible to charge the cannon as quickly as possible. It will be some time before any of us can recover our strengths,"

The plane jerked again. Several Heartless had now landed on the fuselage and were now beating on it. The Seaduck dropped several hundred feet. Baloo stated frantically, "Somebody come up with an idea soon! Those things aren't waiting for us to make a decision!"

"I've still got my gun," Darkwing announced, "I'll go out there and stop them,"

"I've got my gun too, and since the cannon isn't help anymore, I can do more good out there," Vincent walked away from the cannon's control and joined Darkwing Duck. Baloo opened the cargo door and the two gunners blasted their way to the fuselage. They managed to keep the Heartless away from the plane, but there was no way that Baloo could get past all of them to land at Cape Suzette. Vincent made a decision, "Listen, for every one of these things we've gotten rid of, there's just another one after it. We've got to get to Cape Suzette. Watch my back, I'm going for Don Carnage,"

Before Darkwing could argue Vincent took a running start and leapt off of the Seaduck. At first it looked like Vincent would fall to the sea but by twisting his cape and body, he maneuvered his way to Don Carnage's plane. He may not have been able to hit the fast vehicle with the cannon, but there was no way he could miss now. With his gun he made a hole just behind the cockpit and with his claw pull open the plane like a can. He grabbed the pilot by the back of his collar and spun them face to face, "Ah! You again!"

"Yes, me again. You're a very slow learner. I'm sick of getting blown out of the air, fighting on planes and dealing with you. Now call them off so my friends can land and we can get rid of your boss," Vincent ordered.

"Never! The great Don Carnage will never surrender!" the pirate huffed. The plane jerked slightly to the side from not having a pilot and Vincent held him threateningly over the water. With the plane not being controlled there was a high likelihood Don Carnage would fall.

"Call them off," Vincent repeated, "And when we get out of here I don't want to see you ever again, understood? I'm not doing this anymore,"

Don Carnage whimpered and nodded frantically. Suddenly all the Heartless vanished and the sky was clear. Vincent shoved the pirate back into his plane and jumped off. Baloo swerved to catch the Heartless man and landed at the port of Cape Suzette. But like the beginning of this rescue, nothing was going to be easy. As soon as the group got out of the plane a group of armed guards surrounded them.

"These goons work for Sher Khan's security company. What are we going to do now?" Baloo whispered to Sora with his hands up.

Sora was still leaning on Riku for support. Having not used a drive mode form of magic in so long, he was more drained that he expected. Without Lulu's potion the Keyblade Master doubted he would still be conscious, "I don't know. Lulu and Donald are still out of magic, I'm still drained and Darkwing is out of ammo,"

"So do we let ourselves get captured?" Riku asked his friend.

"We can't, if we do Sher Khan will get Matilda," Lulu stated.

"Don't worry, guys, there's nothing a little Junior Woodchuck know-how can't get us out of," Huey smiled. He looked back to his other two brothers and they all nodded. The main guard motioned with his gun for the large group to move forward. Baloo stepped forward first when suddenly little flicks of light caused the guards to drop their guns. Huey, Dewey and Louie had pulled out their slingshots and shot at the guards with several glass marbles.

"Run!" Sora cried out as the guards became disoriented and confused. The large group ran forward but Baloo and Kit stayed back.

"We'll stay here to guard the plane. I'd love to give Sher Khan a piece of my mind, but I can't afford to lose the Seaduck if I leave," Baloo called out to the Keyblade Master and his friends, "Good luck and give him heck for me!"

Sora nodded and the group disappeared into the city.

The city was no safer than the port. Sher Khan's goons had appeared to have taken over the entire city. If there were doubts Sher Khan worked for M in the past, the looming darkness erased them. Around every corner an armed guard paced back and forth.

"It's like they were expecting us," Riku remarked as another guard marched past.

"He probably was. I've never been to Cape Suzette before, but from what the Justice Ducks told me, Sher Khan is an evil genius. He's going to be hard to beat, even if we do find the way to his company," Darkwing Duck stated.

"How are we going to get to his company?" Kairi asked.

"Riku, let me carry Sora for a while," Matilda interrupted.

"I don't think that's a good idea, he's pretty heavy," Riku explained doubtfully.

"I'm stronger than I look. We're probably going to have to fight soon and you're better off if you can use your sword without lugging him around. I'll be fine," Matilda struck the white haired boy strangely, and he couldn't help being reminded of her somewhat terrifying behavior back on the World of Ever After. But realizing the girl was probably right, shifted Sora onto Matilda's back.

"Wow, Matilda, are you okay? Your skin feels like death!" Sora yelped when touching the girl.

"I'm fine Sora, just worry about gathering your strength," Matilda smiled gently. Vincent stared at her. It was the first time that anybody noticed the same chill to the girl's skin besides the Heartless man himself.

"My question never got answered, where is the company? I know we don't usually have well thought out plans but we'll be in trouble if we can't even find the place," Kairi repeated.

"She's right, none of us have ever been to Cape Suzette before. I really wish Baloo came with us. Me and Launchpad could have guarded the plane if he was so worried about it!" Darkwing groaned.

"Well, that really isn't something to worry about right now," Goofy stated.

"And why is that?" Donald asked.

"Because they've found us," the knight pointed to a group of guards. One of them started radioing for backup. Darking reached into his cape and threw something that knocked the walkie-talkie out of the guard's hand.

"You guys keep going! We'll stall them," Darking said.

"But you're out of ammo!" Sora cried out.

"Ammo yes, other tricks no. Besides, I happen to be a black-belt," Darkwing smiled. The guards began running towards them and Darkwing struck a pose, "Well hurry up and get out of here!"

"Yeah, we'll keep them back as long as we can. We're not worried because as long as you stop Sher Khan we'll be okay in the end. We're not scared," Launchpad said reassuringly, "And Sora, please tell Mr. McD. I'm sorry,"

"I will," Sora nodded and once again the group escaped, and once again the rescue party shrank.

The remaining members: Sora, Matilda, Riku, Kairi, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Donald, Goofy, Vincent and Lulu ran aimlessly. The guards now knew they where they were in the city and they still didn't know how to get to Sher Khan's company where Scrooge was being held. They had taken a wrong turn and were in an alley with a dead end and as they were beginning to backtrack, another group of guards spotted them.

"Anybody have any more brilliant ideas?" Riku asked as they saw they were cornered.

"We fight our way out," Sora said as he suddenly pulled himself off of Matilda's back and summoned his Keyblade.

"Sounds good to me," Riku sneered as he summoned his weapon.

"Sora, are you really okay?" Kairi asked with concern. It was only moments earlier that Sora was still barely able to walk, let alone fight.

"I'm fine Kairi, it looks like I got my second wind," The team prepared to face the guards when bright blue and red lights and a siren caused the guards to scatter. An old-fashioned police car screeched to a halt inches in front of the battle-ready warriors. A bobcat in a police officer's uniform stuck him head out the window and called out to them.

"Hurry, get inside the car. Those goons will be back soon," The bobcat urged them. The group looked skeptically to each other, debating whether or not to trust the stranger. But upon seeing Sher Khan's security guards begin to approach again, the pack rushed into the car and screeched away from the scene.

"That was too close," Sora sighed, "Thanks a lot er…"

"The name is Officer Bonkers," the bobcat in the front seat looked back to his passengers.

"Bonkers?" Goofy asked, "You mean like the famous movie star?"

"Yup, I used to be in movies. But when the roles dried up I became an officer of the law," Bonkers said proudly.

"We appreciate the help, officer," Vincent inquired, "But how did you know to help us?"

"Because wherever Sher Khan's goons are, trouble is just around the corner. Seeing all of you trapped like that, I knew I had to do something,"

"You know that Sher Khan is evil?" Kairi asked.

"Every officer of Cape Suzette knows how much of a crook Sher Khan is. Because he donates so much money to candidates' campaigns, the government doesn't do anything to stop his evil deeds. But this time he's gone too far, he's somehow convinced the Mayor to replace the city's police force with Sher Khan's personal security firm. All the other cops lost their jobs, but I refuse to quit working, even if I don't get paid," Bonkers explained angrily, "It's a good thing too, these guys commit more crimes than the criminals do,"

"So it looks like we're on the same side," Sora explained, "My name is Sora, I am the Keyblade Master. I don't know how much you know about the Darkness or Heartless, but for some time now Sher Khan has been working with an evil being called M. And on top of everything Sher Khan kidnapped Donald's uncle and is holding him for ransom. We're here to save him. But if you're on our side Officer Bonkers we need your help,"

"You plan to take care of Sher Khan? If that's the truth you can count on me to help you," Bonkers said determinedly.

"We've very grateful," Lulu began sheepishly, "So does this mean you actually know where Sher Khan's company is?"

"You bet!" And with that, Bonkers violently jerked the steering wheel and screeched down the streets of Cape Suzette, ready for a battle.


	40. Tower of Terror

Chapter Thirty-nine The Tower of Terror

"Yeh won't get away with this yeh criminal!" Scrooge McDuck roared angrily. Though an old man that walked with a cane, he was not a feeble or fragile individual and his captors were having a hard time controlling him. Sher Khan sat at his desk rubbing his temples impatiently. Once again the old duck had wiggled out of his gag was waving his cane around, smacking the gorilla goons whenever they got even remotely in arm's length of the millionaire, "Yeh don't scare me, Sher Khan. It doesn't matter what yeh do to meh, yeh ain't getting' mah company. Yeh tried puttin' meh out of business with yer dirty tricks, yeh tried sabotaging mah goods and now yeh've gone and kidnapped meh!"

"You stupid old man," Sher Khan chided, "You really think this is still about your silly company?"

"Then what is this about?" Scrooge demanded.

"This is about taking over the world. No, not even that. When I get that girl your company, this world, this entire universe will be mine,"

"What are yeh talkin' about yeh madman?" Scrooge roared, "What girl?"

"That really isn't anything you need to worry about. Instead you should hope your nephew and his friends are loyal enough to actually pay for your irritating life," Sher Khan began studying his claws nonchalantly. A guard knocked on the tiger's office door and let himself in. The panther saluted his boss and waited for permission to speak. The businessman waved his hand impatiently.

"The Keyblade Master and his friends have been spotted in the city, sir. They appear to be planning an attack. He managed to evade three of our battalions, but we've managed to capture four of his friends, including the pilot Baloo and Darkwing Duck," the guard explained curtly.

"Loyal but not smart, it appears," Sher Khan remarked. He motioned towards Scrooge, "Take care of the old man. If the fool Keyblade Master wishes to fight, he should pay the consequence for disregarding my offer,"

"There is one other thing, sir," Sher Khan waited for the answer, "Though they plan to try to attack you, it still appears the girl you are after is with them,"

"Really?" the tiger smirked, "Well, this changes things significantly. Leave the old man—for now, he may still be useful as bait. Tell the others to stand down, I'm going to use my backup forces instead,"

"Backup forces, sir?" the panther asked. Sher Khan said nothing. Instead he crossed his arms and a sudden terrifying blackness pulled itself away from the tiger's shadow and melted into the floor.

Bonker's police car came to a screeching halt in front of a large skyscraper built into a cliff. It was a marvel of glass, steel and rock as parts of the mountain broke off as balconies for various floors of the building. Part of the makeup of the tower's façade was a relief of a tiger crushing a planet, just like the stationary the ransom note was written on. The bobcat looked to the backseat, "We're here,"

Sora and the others cautiously entered the office building, expecting a full on assault on their way to a rescue, but instead the lobby was completely abandoned. Vincent was immediately suspicious, "I don't like this."

"You're right," Lulu agreed, "Everything else has been well guarded and difficult. Why would things be so easy now?"

"Maybe they didn't think we would get this far and didn't bother to guard the building?" Sora guessed.

"I doubt it," Riku sided with the Heartless and Nobody.

"Even if this is a trap we still need to find Unca Scrooge," Donald stated firmly.

"So where do you think they've got him stashed?" Riku asked.

"Sher Khan's office is on the top floor. It would make sense that he was being kept there," Bonkers explained.

"So let's get started," Sora announced. The group headed to the elevator, only to find it out of order, "Well, maybe this won't be as easy as we thought. It looks like we're going to have to take the long way with the stairs,"

The stairs were on the opposite side of elevator past the lobby. Though there were several office doors down the corridor to the stairs, there were no pieces of furniture on the ground. Nothing interrupted the checkerboard design of the black and white tiles that lead to the stairs. Sora was about to step out onto the floor when Huey, Dewey and Louie pulled him back, "Hold on Sora, if you stepped on that black tile you would have been electrocuted!"

"Huh?" Sora squawked.

"The layout of this room is familiar to us. There is a similar floor in Unca Scrooge's money bank," Huey began.

"It looks like Sher Khan and Unca Scrooge installed the same kind of security system in their buildings," Dewey continued, "If that's true, we can get past the system without running into trouble,"

"So how do we get past the floor?" Kairi asked.

"Only step on the white tiles, they aren't electrified," Louie stated. However, saying that was far easier than actually accomplishing it. The tiles themselves were not that big, only six inches by six inches, meaning only the toe of one foot could fit on them without touching the black tiles. Huey Dewey and Louie went ahead of the rest of the group to show them the way, and even the young boy's feet were slightly larger than the tiles of the floor. The three boys struggled to hop from tile to tile and after they made it to the stairs they motioned for the others to follow. Sora, Kairi and Riku took off their shoes and hopped awkwardly after the three boys. Matilda, Vincent, Bonkers and Donald followed afterward. Vincent was surprising agile. His feet barely hit the floor at all as he whisped across the booby-trapped tiles. The only two who stayed behind were Goofy and Lulu. Goofy's feet were huge and even going on tiptoe would touch the black tiles and Lulu's dress dragged on the floor. The Nobody witch tried to hitch up the cloth of her dress, but the amount of cloth kept slipping down and touching the ground.

"Oh no, Goofy and Lulu are still on the other side of the hall. What do we do now?" Sora asked, "We can't leave them behind,"

"I'll take care of it," Vincent stated. He ran back across the floor and grabbed Goofy across the waist. The knight yelped in surprise as he was picked up so unceremoniously. Suddenly Lulu looked extremely flustered, Vincent noticed, "Just grab on my neck,"

"Are you sure we won't be too heavy," Lulu stated, trying to regain her composure.

"It will be fine," Vincent bent down slightly to give Lulu a better angle to grab onto him. As soon as she grabbed on Vincent dashed back across the floor and the group was once again reunited.

Fortunately the stairs themselves were not rigged with any kind of trap but several more of the floors had the electrified tile floors and the design of the building seemed to have the stairs on alternating sides of the building. Finally the tile torture ended and the next floor seemed to be safe, that is until they made it just about to the middle of the floor. It was just then and hundreds of lasers activated and blocked their way.

"Uh-oh," Dewey remarked, "This is really bad, we can't touch those lasers at all, not even a little bit,"

"Why, do they activate an alarm?" Sora asked. Dewey shook his head. Instead he grabbed a tail feather from his Uncle Donald's tail and threw it in the path of the laser. It instantly vaporized to ash.

"So what do we do now? There is no way all of use can navigate through all the lasers without getting hurt," Kairi asked Sora.

"It looks like on the wall on the opposite side of the lasers is some kind of box," Matilda observed, "I bet it operates the lasers' controls,"

"So if we hit it the lasers will go away. That makes sense," Sora concluded, "Do you think you or Bonkers could shoot it out with your guns?"

"Too risky," Vincent shook his head, "If one of those lasers shifts suddenly and hits the cartridge the explosion it would create would probably blow us away. Even a regular bullet will explode when hit by a laser,"

"If one of use can get passed the lasers, he or she can turn it off. The only question is who would be small and agile enough to get around those death rays?" Goofy proposed.

"I'll do it," Riku volunteered.

"Riku, no! If you mess up you'll be burned alive!" Sora snapped.

"You forget, I'm not a klutz like you, Sora. And besides, who else can do it?" Riku asked, "The only one who's a better fighter than me is the Heartless, and in case you haven't noticed, he's graceful, but huge,"

Vincent chose to ignore the insult, because the truth of the matter was that Riku was right, something Sora realized as well. The boy reluctantly agreed, "Fine, but be careful,"

"You only live once," Riku winked. The boy summoned his sword and took a running start, dodging the first beam that was passing by. In a series of jumps, somersaults, kicks and flips, the white haired boy dodged the burning lasers and with his sword, broke the box controlling them. The box sparked momentarily before the laser beams died.

"He did it!" Kairi said with a sigh of relief.

Riku gave the thumbs up, "And you guys doubted me,"

The group prepared to head up the next fight of stairs when they heard pounding from a nearby office door. At first they ignored it, but the pounding got louder and more desperate. Curious, they decided to investigate. The group summoned their weapons, prepared for a trap, but instead of anything dangerous, they found something very familiar.

"See I told you I heard them," Baloo said to Darkwing Duck. Baloo, Kit, Darkwing and Launchpad were in a cage on the far side of what looked like a boardroom, "Man are we glad to see you guys,"

"I didn't say you were wrong, I just said not to get your hopes up!" Darkwing snapped.

"I'm so sorry all of you got captured like this," Sora said sincerely before using his Keyblade to break the lock.

"Actually it's a good thing we did. Those security guys aren't that smart, they talked about Sher Khan's new plan right in front of us. It's like they didn't realize we could hear them," Darkwing explained.

"Plan, what plan?" Matilda asked.

"They don't plan to go through with the ransom," Launchpad said sadly.

"Well that's no big surprise," Bonkers rolled his eyes, "Dishonest as they come. Even in my movies we didn't have bad guys as serious as Sher Khan,"

"So what do they plan instead?" Sora asked.

"They weren't specific, they probably didn't know themselves," Baloo began, "But they said since you brought that girl Matilda with you they'd just use the old man to lure you here, but planned to finish you off before you can get to him,"

"Finish us off? With what? We're almost to the top of this building and the only thing we ran into were a bunch of nasty traps. Did he think those would stop us?" Sora asked.

"Who knows?" Baloo shrugged as they headed out of the boardroom and back to the stairs. As soon as they headed to the next floor they got their answer.

"Um Sora…" Huey, Dewey and Louie squeaked as they stepped out on the new floor.

"Oh no, don't worry, I see it," Sora laughed nervously. On this next floor was a giant Heartless that looked like an armored elephant.


	41. Temptation of the Outcasts

Chapter Forty Temptation of the Outcasts

The elephant Heartless spotted them almost immediately. It raised its tentacle-like trunk and trumpeted mightily, causing the entire floor to shake. After its battle cry it aimed its trunk at the group in the stair well and shot a laser beam.

"Hit the deck!" Sora screamed as the group dropped to the ground to dodge the assault. The blast missed the group, but blew away the concrete wall behind, leaving a massive hole all the way to the outside, revealing the night's sky.

"Well, this explains why there weren't any guards on any of the others floors," Riku surmised, "They were probably trying to avoid this thing,"

"Let's get dangerous!" Darkwing Duck sneered and prepared to run out to face the monster.

"Darkwing, hold on!" Huey, Dewey and Louie tried to warn the duck hero but it was too late. He had already stepped on a black tile. A charge surged through Darkwing's body and sent him flying backwards.

"DW, how many fingers do you see?" Launchpad ran over to his partner and held two fingers in front of the charred hero's face.

"Gettysburg Address," Darkwing replied.

"He'll be okay," Launchpad announced.

"Which is more than we can say for us. That thing looks like it's about to fire again," Lulu pointed out. The armored elephant aimed its trunk once more at the group.

"Matilda, take Darkwing, Kit, Huey, Dewey and Louie back downstairs and take cover," Vincent commanded.

"But I want to stay and fight!" Matilda whined.

"That wasn't a request," Vincent grabbed his riffle off his back and cocked it.

"Well Sora, we can barely touch the ground and that thing can shoot lasers from its nose. Anything you'd like to say?" Riku asked his friend.

"Yeah, what are we waiting for?" Sora smiled. He, Riku and Kairi kicked off their shoes and started running towards the Heartless, dashing on the white tiles while trying to avoid the monster's increasingly accurate shots. But just as Sora had made it halfway to the Heartless, hundreds of lasers shot out of the walls. Riku jumped in front of his friend and used his sword to deflect the attack, sending the laser in an opposite direction.

Riku looked at his sword to see a hot dent where the light beam hit, "Well this certainly became more interesting,"

"Yeah, like Xemnas all over again," Sora groaned. The three Keyblade wielders did their best to dodge the lasers that had come from the wall as well as avoid the ones the Heartless were shooting while Vincent, Lulu, Baloo, Donald, Bonkers and Goofy tried to figure out a way to help.

"So what do we do? A few more minutes and those kids will be Kentucky Fried," Baloo remarked.

"They'd have a flying chance if the security system was turned off. Then they wouldn't have to worry about the floor and the lasers," Bonkers remarked, "Hey, that's it! Why didn't we think of it before? Why don't we turn off the security system?"

"Do you know where it is?" Donald asked the officer.

"Uh, no," Bonkers laughed.

"Actually, I do," Baloo replied.

"What? How?" Goofy inquired.

"I'd tell you, but I'm afraid not in front of the good officer here. I have a lot of interesting friends with interesting talents. Let's just say in passing I received a copy of this building's blueprints," Baloo explained.

"Then let's get going," Bonkers motioned to Baloo and the two ran back downstairs. Sora, Riku and Kairi continued to struggle against the Heartless. Finally Sora dodged one final blast from the Heartless and slipped and fell straight onto the floor. He winced as her prepared from the jolt of energy that would come from the black tiles, but instead he felt nothing. The Keyblade Master opened his eyes and saw that aside from the Heartless itself, the laser beams had stopped.

"They must have done it! Let's go help those three!" Goofy announced as he, Donald, Lulu and Vincent rushed forward to help their friends. Riku pulled Sora up by his shirt and the two dashed to hit the elephant Heartless. They raised their weapons into the air and slammed them down on the Heartless's hide, sending the boys backwards, crashing into the wall.

"What happened?" Sora blurted in surprise.

"This is just a guess of course, but it appears it repelled our weapons," Riku said sarcastically as he gingerly rubbed his head.

"So what do we do now?" Sora asked wondering how to defeat a Heartless that was somehow immune to the Keyblade.

Lulu and Donald ran out and both unleashed a thunder spell. Goofy threw his shield at the monster. Each blow hit the Heartless elephant directly, and for a second it seemed stunned, but then it shook itself off and charged the group. The warriors scattered to avoid the tank-like monster's tackle. Riku, Sora and Kairi tried to strike it with their Keyblades again, but once again their attacks bounced off harmlessly.

"This thing is invincible!" Sora cried out and he jumped out of the way of a laser attack. As the three young people were dived to the ground a wind rushed past them. Vincent had dashed past them with his shotgun and leapt into the air over the Heartless. As he twisted into the air he shot five shots at the monster. The monster recoiled as it was hit, and Sora and the others waited for it to shake off the blow and fight back, but it didn't. Somehow Vincent's attacks were able to hit their mark while the others had failed.

"How did he do that?" Riku blurted, "You think it's because of those super powered charges he uses?"

"I don't know, but it looks like we're going to rely on him to finish this thing off," Sora sighed.

The Heartless finally recovered somewhat and turned around to attack Vincent. Once again the Heartless man leapt over the elephant monster and shot it again, "A Heartless this powerful can only be finished off with the Keyblade. Think Sora!"

Sora suddenly realized why Vincent's attacks were successful while the others hadn't even scratched the monster. The Heartless was armored, any hit on its hide would just bounce back, but Vincent had been shooting between the plates of armor in its vulnerable joints. Riku and Kairi appeared to have understood the connection as well and as Vincent continued to distract it, Sora and the others began attacking the joints. Lulu and Donald froze the monster in place with an ice spell to prevent it from charging again. Goofy and Kairi worked on attacking the joints of the legs while Riku had joined Vincent in hitting its back. Sora took a running start and slid under the Heartless and sliced through its soft underbelly. The Heartless trumpeted a final time before falling apart into pieces of rusted metal and vanishing. The final staircase was now unblocked.

Wasting no time the group ran to the penthouse office and through open the doors. Several of the panther bodyguards were aiming guns at the group, but thunder attacks from Lulu and Donald left the men unarmed. Bonkers rushed ahead of all of them, flashing his police badge and called out, "Sher Khan, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Scrooge McDuck, fraud, extortion and being a bad guy in general,"

Sher Khan made no attempt to escape, he just sat behind his desk, frowning. Scrooge ran over to the group, thrilled to have been rescued. Donald cried out happily, "Unca Donald!"

"Unca Donald!" Huey, Dewey and Louie ran pushed into the room with Kit, Baloo, Matilda, Launchpad and Darkwing Duck not far behind them.

"Boys! Donald! Launchpad! You have no idea how happy I am to see you," He threw his arms around his grandnephews before turning around to smirk at Sher Khan, "See, I told ye, ye wouldn't get away with it!"

"Sora, you have no idea how grateful to yeh I am," Scrooge shook the Keyblade Master's hand as the waited in the police station so the old man could file a report. Since Sher Khan was arrested the dark cloud over Cape Suzette seemed to have lifted and once again people were out and about. Launchpad apologized to Scrooge for his doubt and his cowardice and was immediately forgiven. While waiting for a copy of the report to be filed, old millionaire asked how the rest of the adventure was going, "So how is mah old Gummi Ship holdin' up?"

"Um, the Excalibur sorta got destroyed," Donald laughed nervously.

Scrooge's relief and happiness was now gone and began shouting at his nephew, "DESTROYED! AGAIN! WHY DO I KEEP LETTING YOU BORROW MAH SHIPS WHEN ALL YEH DO IS LOSE THEM! YOU'LL BE WORKIN' AT THAT RESTAURANT UNTIL YEH PAY MEH BACK EVERY RED CENT YOU OWE ME!"

"B-but I saved your life!" Donald whined.

"BUT THAT DIDN'T NEED YEH TO DESTROY THE EXCALIBUR DID IT?!" Uncle Scrooge began chasing Donald with his cane, smacking his nephew when he got within range.

"Speaking of which, how is the Seaduck II doing?" Baloo asked Vincent.

"Exploded. Nothing I could do to stop it," Vincent said plainly.

"Exploded!" Baloo groaned, "My poor baby…"

Vincent shrugged apologetically and walked over to Sora, "Sher Khan's interrogation has started. Bonkers said you, Lulu and I should sit in on it. He thinks it might help somehow,"

"Right," Sora nodded and followed the Heartless into the interrogation room where Lulu had been waiting for them. Bonkers was hunched over the table across from Sher Khan, who was wearing a deeply satisfied smug smile,"

"Tell me again, why did you kidnap Scrooge McDuck?!" Bonkers said irritably.

"I told you already officer, I was holding him for ransom. I wanted the Keyblade Master here to deliver me the girl they call Matilda," Sher Khan said candidly.

"Yes, you already told me that, but you didn't tell me why you want that girl," Bonkers pressed on.

"I also already told you even if you knew the real reason you are far too stupid and simpleminded to understand the answer," Sher Khan replied almost cheerfully.

"You want Matilda because you work for M," Sora stated.

"You understand slightly better than the officer, but you are still misinformed. No one 'works for' M. We are all partners in the same goal. Though I must say you and your friends have done well in shrinking our numbers. Besides myself there are only about three of us left," Sher Khan charismatically said to Sora.

"But what is your interest in Matilda? What does she have that you are so desperate to track her down? Kidnapping, extortion, hiring bounty hunters and mercenaries, you've done just about anything to get her. What is it you want?" Lulu asked.

"The power of Kingdom Hearts, naturally," Sher Khan remarked.

"We understand that, but what is Matilda's connection to Kingdom Hearts? Who is she really?" Lulu pressed.

Sher Khan changed the subject, "Have the two of you ever thought of joining us? Our organization could use the powers of two creatures so connected to the Darkness. You would be rewarded with what you've always wanted. Unlimited hearts and power,"

Lulu looked appalled at being called 'creatures' while Vincent did everything in his power to not lunge at the tiger and rip him to shreds. Sora and Bonkers looked fearfully at the Heartless but Vincent managed to restrain himself. The white hot rage slowly boiled down as the cruel numb feeling finally allowed him control over himself.

"Never." Vincent hissed.

"I'm curious, why are the two of you fighting so hard against the power of Kingdom Hearts? Isn't that what Xenahort and the Organization wanted? Its power released? Wouldn't that only benefit you, a Heartless and a Nobody?"

Lulu and Vincent exchanged severe glances, the answer obvious to both of them. It was the Heartless man that answered in his icy, emotionless tone, "Because Ansem and the Organization were blind idiots, they didn't see what they were really doing. The Darkness that stays in Kingdom Hearts has to stay in Kingdom Hearts. It's not a power that anyone is meant to control, and trying only ends in disaster. And it's because we're a Heartless and a Nobody that we know this. We weren't always like this, and we don't plan to stay this way,"

"You think you've offered us what we've always wanted," Lulu added, her husky voice in a haunting whisper, "Instead, you're showing is the exact reason why we fight against you, why we rejected what we have become,"

Sher Khan sneered, "I'm finished answering questions, I'd like a lawyer now,"

"C'mon Sora, now that he asked for a lawyer we can't ask him anymore questions," Bonkers informed them, still chilled from the nearly dangerous situation that had just occurred.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. There is one last thing I'd like to say," Sher Khan began, "After working so hard for so long, I would hate to see you leave empty-handed, Keyblade Master. After all you did get me fair and square. There is someone who can help you, he lives in a world called Prydain. Talking to him should fill in some gaps,"

"Why have you decided now to help us?" Sora asked suspiciously.

"Why not? I have nothing more to lose," Sher Khan folded his hands together and said nothing more. Frustrated, Sora, Bonkers, Vincent and Lulu left the room.

Suddenly the intercom that allowed outsiders to hear what was said outside the interrogation room sputtered to life and a strange hollow voice spoke on the other end, "I'm very impressed Sher Khan. You failed in getting the girl, but you've pushed the Keyblade Master to the perfect point for out final try,"

"I remember our plan, if I get caught tell the lot to see the Horned King. So what are you going to do to get me out, M?" Sher Khan asked irritably.

"Once the girl is ours, bars and windows will not be a problem. But now that the girl is headed for Prydain we can get rid of that traitorous Horned King and destroy the Keyblade Master in one foul swoop," M hissed happily. Sher Khan could not help and share the mysterious being's enthusiasm.


	42. False Memories

Chapter Forty-one False Memories

"So how did it go?" Riku asked as Sora, Lulu and Vincent came out of the interrogation room, "Get anything useful?"

"Not really, I think he was just jerking us around. But I see what everyone says about Sher Khan being a bad guy. He's the one in jail and he acts like he's the one with the power,"

Vincent and Lulu said nothing. Riku stretched out, "So what's our next move? Do we go see the king or play world hopping again?"

"I don't know," Sora sighed and sat down at an unoccupied officer's cubicle.

"I remember something…" Matilda began. Immediately everyone looked to the girl. "It was just very recently, for some reason protecting those kids back in the office reminded me of something that happened a few years ago. I was separated from my some of my friends, and one of my friends was hurt. Someone very dark promised that if I help them my friends would be okay. But she lied and used me, I was trapped somewhere dark for a very long time but I still worried about my friends…"

"Um, no," Riku said flatly.

"Jeez Riku, why are you being so rude?" Kairi asked, "Matilda is having enough of a hard time remembering things without you being mean to her,"

"That's the thing, that isn't her memory," Riku stated angrily.

"How can you be so sure?" Goofy asked.

"Because that," Riku emphasized, "Is what happened to me. When Destiny Island got absorbed by the Darkness, Kairi lost her heart. Maleficent said that if I helped find the Princesses of Heart I could help Kairi. But then she manipulated me and had me fight Sora and hurt people, and that's when Xenahort's Heartless got into me and I had to stay behind in the world of Darkness,"

"You're right…" Kairi said stunned, "Remember when we first met Matilda and she jumped on Sora saying he remembered her promise to her? That he would come back to her? Sora promised me he'd come back, but he never met Matilda before in his life,"

"And remember the memory Matilda had in Snow White's world? That she was given to Maleficent? I think that's what happened to Snow White instead," Goofy realized.

"No, that can't be! I'm not lying, I did remember all those things!" Matilda said defensively. She looked to Vincent for help.

"I remember something myself, why Olympus Coliseum felt so familiar. Cloud told me the first time he looked for his mortal enemy Sephiroth, Hades tried to use him and he fell into Darkness for a little while," Vincent stated, "That was the first thing you told me you remembered,"

Matilda looked horrified, "But why am I remembering things that happened to other people? They felt so real, like I really lived them. I remember how sad, how scared I was, what color was the clothing I was wearing…"

Sora sighed, "It looks like we're back to square one. We might as well head to Prydain like Sher Khan suggested. At this point I can't see how it would hurt,"

Matilda said nothing to anyone as they group packed back into the Gummi Ships. She just sat in stunned silence patting Piff mindlessly on the head. After an hour of traveling in Innerspace without a word being said in either cockpit, Lulu finally broke the tension, "You shouldn't feel bad Matilda,"

Matilda did not reply.

"I know you were not leading us around on purpose. I believe you truly thought those things happened to you. No one blames you or is mad at you," Lulu continued.

"This has been just a wild goose chase. I'm no closer to finding out who I am than I was weeks ago." Matilda said hollowly. It was so strange to see the normally cheerful child-like girl act so broken.

"That is not true. There has to be a reason why you can remember the memories of other people, there must be some connection between that and why M is after you. Besides, at least you're remembering something, even if they are just lies," Lulu added sadly, "I've been on this journey just as long as you have, and I don't remember anything at all. My real self is still a mystery to me. I appear to be a non existing being who never had an existing life,"

"You're right," Matilda finally looked up, her face still full of pain and confusion, "All this time we've been worrying about me, and you don't remember who you are Lulu, I've been selfish,"

"That's not what I meant. Even though I've met only one person with a vague memory of someone like me, I have not given up," Lulu said determinedly, "And if I will one day find my Somebody and once again be a whole, real person, I'm sure we'll find your real memories as well,"

"You're right," Matilda smiled weakly.

On the horizon a large gray looking world with dead forests and ancient castles appeared. Sora radioed from the other ship, "It looks like Prydian is up ahead,"

"We see it," Vincent replied, "We're heading there now, let's meet on that plain, it looks like about the safest place on here. This place doesn't look very welcoming, and following Sher Khan's advice was risky enough,"

"Agreed," The two Gummi Ships landed on an open plan and began cautiously exploring the new world. Though gloomy and dangerous now, there were signs everywhere that this world was once a beautiful place.

"What do you think happened to it?" Kairi asked Sora sadly.

"I don't know, it looks like it's been in Darkness for a while," Sora replied and looked to Vincent.

"There aren't any Heartless here," Vincent stated figuring that was what Sora had thought, "At least not yet. I don't know what it is, but I feel like they are ready to come here, like this place will be a breeding ground once the first one steps foot here,"

"I know what you mean," Riku added ominously. Matilda stuck close to Vincent and Lulu as the group kept pressing on, looking for any sign of friendly beings. They kept their weapons up, ready for an ambush that felt inevitable. Soon they all started wondering the same thing: how could anyone who lived in such a desolate place know anything about Matilda? But after realizing everything Matilda knew was false, just about anything was possible.

The attack finally came. In a flash of broken branches from a dead bramble forest just ahead of them two small red dragons dived at the warriors. The group immediately recognized them, they were the same kind of small dragons that had attacked them back on the World of Ever After, where the larger dragon dwelling in Innerspace nearly decimated their group. It was then that they realized that this world had everything to do with Matilda, for whoever inhabited this world worked for M.

Lulu shoved Matilda to the ground as the dragons swooped down on them. Donald cast a thunder spell to repel the monsters and Goofy tried to shield them. Vincent vainly tried to shoot the monsters, but all three types of his cartridges: fire, ice and explosive merely bounced against their hides. But unlike the Heartless in Sher Khan's office, there were no clear vulnerable points to hit. Sora, Kairi and Riku summoned their Keyblades in a final attempt to combat the dragons, knowing running away could mean the giant dragon could strike again. Sora dived in front of Kairi as the dragon tried to attack her, countering its claws with his Keyblade. Riku tried to do the same thing to protect Sora, but their combined strengths did little to keep the dragons away. One dragon grabbed Sora's arm while the second dragon dug its claws into the flesh of Riku's shoulder.

"Hey, let go!" Riku snarled as he tried to work the monster's talons out of his body. The dragon could care less about the boy's attempt as it looked to its partner and began flapping its leathery wings. Together the two dragons rose into the sky with the Keyblade Master and his friend as their prizes and began to carry them away.

"Riku! Sora!" Kairi, Donald and Goofy cried out. Vincent did his best to fire at the dragons, but like before his weapon did no good and the two dragons disappeared over some terrifying mountains.

"Watch it!" Riku snarled as the large hairy man shoved him through the gray stone halls, "If you're going to grab me like that at least buy me dinner first!"

His captor ignored him as his partner shoved Sora ahead of him. The distance between the two made it hard for them to communicate, but seeing as though the two guards didn't seem that bright, Sora risked speaking anyway, "What do you think they're going to do to us?"

"Well, they haven't killed us yet, which could be a good or bad sign," Riku theorized, "It could either mean we're going to be presented to somebody, or they plan to torture us,"

Sora noticed the walls of the castle had dozens of brown coated nasty looking weapons on the wall. The boy swallowed hard, "Or both,"

The hall got louder and louder at they approached a large room up ahead. The room turned out to be a great dining hall, full of chaos and disorder. Many large warriors were sitting at tables ripping apart trays of meat with their bare hands, throwing used bones onto the floor where mangy looking dogs and giant dragons fought over the garbage. Between the large men were large goblins, but all of them were so ugly it was hard to tell which was which. In the background of the yelling and laughing music could just barely be heard as a pudgy dancer girl leapt across the table to the jeers and howls of the male audience. Riku and Sora exchanged nervous glances as they were dragged to the front of the hall. At the front of the cavernous room was a throne, and on the throne was a red robed man with glowing red eyes, a skeletal face and horns jutting out of his head.

A small green goblin skittered from behind him and bowed in front of the being. The goblin motioned for the two men to bring Sora and Riku forward, "Master, we have brought them, the Keyblade Master and his friend, the ones protecting the girl,"

The expression on the horned being was hard to read between curiosity and rage. Sora whispered to Riku, "Who is this guy?"

"I don't know, but I don't like the way this looks," Riku whispered back. The goblin appeared to have heard him.

"You don't know of the Horned King?" the goblin shrieked aghast. The little green skinned being glanced back to his master, prepared for some violent reaction. Instead the man revealed a cruel, pointed tooth smile.


	43. The Black Cauldron

Chapter Forty-two The Black Cauldron

"Creeper," The Horned King said in a irritable hiss, "What is the point of bringing these whelps in front of me?"

"M-master," the Creeper stuttered, "These are the ones protecting the girl you are after, I thought by capturing them we could finally get her,"

"And you didn't think if they are here that means the girl here as well? And that it would make more sense to capture her instead of wasting our time with them?" The Horned King seized the Creeper by the neck and began squeezing.

"Well, I, er," the Creeper wheezed as he was choked by his master. Riku and Sora exchanged extremely nervous looks, but finally the king dropped his servant.

"It is no matter, the girl is not of my concern anymore, I have alternative methods to achieving what I want," the Horned King said calmly, "Assuming of course you have not failed in that as well,"

"Bring in the pig," The Creeper squeaked. He did not wish to displease his master any further. Two more of the king's enormous hairy servants came forward, one holding a trough filled with brackish looking water, the other dragging a small pig on a rope. The little animal seemed terrified, and the hungry looks in the eyes of the hall's participants made Sora's stomach twist in a horrific knot. The one man set the tray down and the Creepy grabbed the rope from the other and dragged the pig in front of the tray, "Pig! Show us the location of the Black Cauldron!"

The pig seemed to have understood what the Creeper wanted from it. She sat down in place and gave an angry look to the goblin before snubbing the tray of water. The king began tapping his nails on the stone throne. The Creeper realized his master's patience was once again wearing thin and fearfully seized the pig and shoved her face into the water, "We know you are the pig prophet, show us where the Cauldron is!"

Once again, nothing happened except the pig wriggled away. The Horned King had enough. He snapped his fingers and one of his attendants seized the pig's rope and pulled her forward and shoved her head on a bloody looking block. Another man with an enormous ax stepped forward and the pig began to squeal. Sora tried to protest, but Riku pulled him back, not wanting to put their own lives in more danger then they were already in over a pig. But another voice screamed out, "Henuin! No!"

From a broken grate above the great hall was a young teen boy with brown eyes and brown hair wearing a green tunic and canvas colored leggings. The Horned King glanced up and motioned for the executioner to stop his actions. The boy climbed down as quickly as he could and ran before the throne. The king spoke to him, "Who are you?"

"I-I am the pig's keeper," the boy replied nervously.

"Can you get her to foretell the location of the Black Cauldron?" the king asked simply.

"Yes, I can," the boy acted less than sure but stepped forward anyway. He removed the rope from the pig's neck before gently pulling her back to the trough of water. He got onto his knees and whispered, "Henuin, I know that I've seen this done only once, but please cooperate. It could mean both our lives," He gave the animal a brief hug before directing her face towards the water again. He dipped his finger into the liquid and slowly began swirling it. Sora and Riku watched with fascination as the pig looked as though she were going into a trance and voluntarily dipped its own face into the water. The boy said in an uncertain voice, "Henuin, I do beseech, show me knowledge which lies beyond my reach,"

The brackish water began undulating with different colors until the form of a large pot appeared in the water. Hungrily the Horned King leaned forward in his seat, his eyes glowing an evil red, "Yes…," he hissed and edged closer to the pig, "Yes…show me where it is…"

Startled by the king's sudden approach Henuin's trance broke, spilling the water and breaking the scene. She ran away and her keeper ran after her. The Horned King roared with rage and seeing an opening for a distraction, Riku spun around and delivered two devastating kicks to the men holding Sora and himself captive. The two older boys chased after the fifteen-year-old, hoping to find a way of escape. The large castle was even more confusing than before as the hordes of fighters in the dining hall came after the boys with weapons in hand. Sora and Riku caught up with the boy with the pig, who was now holding the small animal in his arms. At first he thought the Keyblade Master was after him, but soon realized they were on the same side. They thought they spotted an exit ahead but it turned out to be a broken room, with only a few stone pieces of floor separating the boys from the moat below. The hundreds of warriors had the three cornered and desperately Sora and Riku summoned their weapons. Seeing he was trapped, the young teen boy looked between the moat and the evil looking warriors. He made a sudden decision, "Run Henuin, go back home and don't look back!"

Suddenly the boy threw the pig into the water below and she began swimming away. Riku and Sora were unable to hold the warriors back and once again, were taken captive.

The dungeon door closed with a slam after the three boys were thrown unceremoniously in. The young man ran back to the door just before hearing the 'click' of the dungeon master's key sealing their fate. Desperately, he shook the door but it was clear there would be no escape. Defeated, the young man slumped against one of the stone walls and ran his fingers through his hair.

"That was some fight back there, huh?" Sora remarked cheerfully, trying to make the depressed looking boy feel better, "I'm Sora by the way. And this is Riku,"

"I'm Taron," the boy replied sadly.

"Yeesh, no wonder this world looks so dead, with a guy like him ruling it," Riku commented to Sora regarding the Horned King.

"It wasn't always like this," Taron remarked, "This world was once a beautiful peaceful place, it was ruled by a wise and good king. Then the Horned King came and started destroying everything. At least that's what I've been told, but it's really hard to believe since it was so long ago,"

"That explains that dark feeling we've been getting even though there aren't any you-know-whats," Sora avoided mentioning the Heartless.

"It will be that way again. One day I'll be a great knight and save this world from evil like the Horned King," Taron said determinedly, looking like he was beginning to feel better, "At least I hope to be, assuming I don't die in here,"

"I'm not too worried about that," Sora said reassuringly.

"How? We're locked in here," Taron asked. Sora looked to Riku and nodded. Enthusiastically Sora summoned the Keyblade, though Riku seemed less excited about the action. Taron was amazed, "How did you do that? I thought your weapons were taken away from you,"

"These weapons can never be separated from us, nor can anyone else use them," Sora grinned, "And the best part is there is no lock made that this Key can't open,"

"Yes, that is true," Riku interjected, "But what the king of foresight didn't notice is even if we get out of the dungeon there are about a hundred guards out there. I'm always up for a good fight, but even I don't like our odds,"

"Oh, yeah," Sora laughed sheepishly. All three boys sighed. Suddenly a scratching sound came from behind them. Taron jumped up and Riku and Sora who prepared for a fight. In a wall opposite a door several of the stone bricks began falling out, with a faint unearthly light coming from it. The three young men all held their breath, preparing for whatever horror would attack them next.

Instead, an orb of light zipped out of the wall and began floating around the boys before zooming back to the wall where a young teen girl with long blond hair and blue eyes was trying to squeeze out of the hole. After a bit of effort she pulled herself out, brushed herself up and looked up, "Oh, hello. I didn't know I wasn't the only person in the dungeon,"

Taron let out a sigh of relief, "Who are you?"

The girl grabbed the hem of her dress and curtsied politely, "I'm Princess Elonwy. Who are you?"

"My name is Taron, and this is Riku and Sora," Taron introduced the group.

"Are you prisoners of the Horned King too?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Sora shrugged.

"Well then, come along," Elonwy motioned back to the hole she just came from, the orb of light still hovering around her. She began squeezing back through the hole and waited for the boys to follow, "Well, come along, you don't want to stay in this dungeon all day, do you?"

The boys all looked to each other and shrugged before following the princess through the hole. Elonwy clearly knew where she was going as she moved through the catacombs between the walls with ease. Taron seemed very impressed, "You really seem to know what you're doing,"

"Oh, I escape from the dungeons all the time, no one really pays attention to me. And wandering around surely beats being alone all day," Elonwy explained before wrinkling her nose, "Except for all the rats. Not that I mind however, but they tend to jump out at you out of no where, it can give you an awful fright,"

"What are you doing in this dungeon anyway, Elonwy?" Sora asked the princess.

"The Horned King captured me because he thought my orb could tell him the location of the Black Cauldron,"

"What is this 'black cauldron' thingy that that king wants so badly?" Riku finally asked.

"I don't know a whole lot expect it is an item of terrible evil," Elonwy stated.

"It's a giant pot, made to trap the soul of a king so evil that the said he had no heart. It's said to give the possessor an army of beings without hearts that cannot be destroyed with ordinary weapons," Taron explained, "It was hidden so no one could ever use it. At least that's what my master Dawbin told me before he told me to run away with Henuin. I do hope she got away all right,"

Suddenly Elonwy's orb spotted a bunch of rats and decided to chase them. The princess called out to her magic item, but appeared not to listen. The four young people chased after it down a dark corridor that opened out into a room. In the center of the room was a pedestal with the body of a long dead man upon it, a sword and shield placed reverently upon his chest. Finally the orb came back to Elonwy and dimmed, "This must be a burial chamber. This is probably the king who held this castle before the Horned King took over,"

"He must have been a great warrior…" Taron whispered respectfully, observing the magnificent looking sword atop the shield, still clutched in the dead king's hands. The boy wandered thoughtlessly over to the body and dusted off the sword, revealing more of the weapon's beauty. Much to the surprise of Sora and Riku, and to the appall of Elonwy, Taron began pulling at it. After a bit of effort, the king let go his death grip and the sword shined in recognition of its new master.

"Oh Taron, how could you?" Elonwy groaned before dropping her head in her hands.

"What? It's not like he's going to use it," Taron shrugged. He examined his weapon and noticed something on the hilt, "Hey, what is this thing?"

Taron pulled a charm that looked like a castle tower attached to a short chain with a clip at the end. Riku and Sora immediately recognized it, "Holy cow! That's a Keychain!"

"Would you like it?" Taron asked, offering the item to Sora. Sora nodded eagerly and grabbed it.

"Why would there be a Keychain all the way down here? Do you think someone with a Keyblade has visited this world before?" Riku asked as Sora placed the Keychain into his weapon. In a flash the Keyblade changed from its normal form to a long broadsword style blade similar to Taron's new sword, the handle was green with a Celtic style knot that wrapped around in a twist.

"It could be, it would explain the story about the cauldron that summons 'things without hearts'," Sora concluded. A lot of loud talking suddenly erupted. The four people instantly became silent, fearful they had been found. However, they soon realized the sound was coming from an adjacent wall.

"Don't you realize who I am?" a voice protested, "I'm famous, one of the greatest minstrels of all time. You're making a big mistake locking me down here!"

Taron motioned to the others to get close to a small hole in the wall. Though it was a tight fit the group saw that in the other room was another cell of the dungeon and another one of the Horned Kings guards was locking an elderly man in shackles. The captive was a gawky thin man with a lyre hung around his neck with several broken strings. If the man weren't in so much danger the scene would be almost comical. The man was hardly cooperative with the guard, trying to squirm away, and at the same time trying to avoid the jaws of the two wolfhounds that were tied to a post in the ground.

"I'm just a wandering minstrel, I promise you I wasn't trespassing. Surely the Horned King would want a minstrel around, someone to sing of his er, great deeds. I've been known to create a masterpiece of an epic within a few short hours," Suddenly one of the few remaining strings on his lyre broke, "Well, maybe not a masterpiece," The guard ignored him as he finished locking the man to wall and picked up the ropes of the two dogs, "Oh what lovely dogs, come here pups," The dogs continued to growl and snarl, causing the minstrel to cower back. The guard left and the minstrel slumped in defeat, "Well, they can't keep me down here forever, can they?" The minstrel looked up again and saw a skeleton still shackled in place, a small mandolin still around its neck. He began to cry.

For all four people to see the scene required all of them to lean on the wall and after being in a state of disrepair for so long the wall collapsed. The group fell into the dungeon, startling the minstrel. Elonwy was the first one to scramble back to her feet and curtsy, "Good evening,"

"Children? What are you doing in such a terrible place?" The minstrel asked.

"We were captured by the Horned King," Taron explained as he brushed himself off, "How did you get here?"

"Oh, I saw this castle and hoped that they would be interested in the services of a minstrel," the man explained before casting a look to the door of his cell and yelled, "Tasteless swine!"

"Here, let's get you out of those," Sora said gently before tapping his Keyblade against the shackles, causing them to open instantly.

The old man rubbed his wrists gratefully, "Thank you, er, young man,"

"I'm Sora," the young man said cheerfully before introducing his friends, "And this is Riku, Taron and Princess Elonwy,"

"Ah, I shall immortalize your heroic deed in song. I am Fleuter, the minstrel of minstrels, the most famous troubadour of all time," suddenly another string of the old man's lyre broke. The man looked huffily at his traitorous instrument, "Well, I will be when enough people hear of me!"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Fleuter," Elonwy said politely.

"Now would be a good time to get out of here, don't you think?" Riku impatiently asked.

"Well then boys, follow me," Elonwy said cheerfully. The group followed the princess back out to the burial chamber and crept the catacombs of the castle. They made it out of the catacombs and began going through the normal larger corridors, but going through them meant risking running into a guard. Whenever a shadow appeared around a corner, the five people pressed themselves against a wall. However, just as they were getting closer to the gates and dodged one group of guards, they turned and crashed into another set.

"Run!" Sora squawked before the guards could move for their swords. Once again the group found themselves pursued like animals as more and more guards came flooding into the halls. They dove into a room in hopes of hiding, but found they had gone into the kitchens by mistake. Inside was a large greasy man hacking apart a dead cow with a cleaver. Upon spotting the fugitives he threw his cleaver, nearly grazing Flueter's hat. The group ran back out, and found themselves face to face with even more guards than before. They all soon suspected that if they were captured again they would not be going to the dungeons. Sora and Riku took a chance and prepared for a fight. They were able to hold back some of the guards but their numbers were quickly getting overwhelming. Taron knew he had to help and lunged forward with his sword.

And being a novice swordsman, his blade was immediately blocked by a weapon of one of the guards. But as soon as the two swords crossed, Taron's sword began to glow and the guard's one cracked and shattered. The large man was taken aback by the loss of his blade and stepped back fearfully. As soon as Taron realized what had happened he became braver. As the guards continued to try to block the boy's attacks with their own weapons, Taron's sword would glow and turn them to dust. Riku whistled, "I wasn't expecting that to happen, but I'll take it,"

Taron, Riku and Sora continued to push the warriors back. Afraid of what would happen if Taron's blade touched skin instead of metal the first wave of warriors ran off, leaving a clear path to the gates out of the castle. The group wasted no time heading to the drawbridge as a second wave of warriors came to replace the first group who ran away, this time vicious dogs and terrifying dragons joining the fray. At the same time, a guard in a watchtower above the gate began lowering the portcullis and lifting up the drawbridge. It was a race to beat the monsters chasing behind them and the bridge closing in front of them but the portcullis won. Just as Sora and Riku got ahead, the giant metal structure closed, blocking them in to face the hordes of fighters just behind. The Keyblade master tried desperately to use his weapon to open the gate, but because the portcullis was closed with gravity and not a lock, the Keyblade was useless.

Hoping that the weapon would work like it had before, Taron lunged forward and slammed the metal gate with his sword, and like before the blade glowed and the metal gate crumbled. As the drawbridge continued its slow rise up, Taron, Sora, Riku, Elonwy and Fleuter gave one last blast of speed to run up and jump over the bridge, landing in the water below. But just as Fleuter made his escape, one of the wolfhounds grabbed him by the seat of his pants, ripping his leggings and leaving him a humiliating reminder of the horrible ordeal they had barely escaped.


	44. Gurgi

Chapter Forty-three Gurgi

The Creeper whimpered as he stood in front of his master's personal chamber. He knew eventually he would have to go in and tell the Horned King what had happened, but he feared what the king would do to him. Quietly, he practiced what he would say, and tried to stay as confident as possible, "This wasn't my fault. Oh, he's still going to blame me for this…"

Finally, the little goblin tapped on the door as quietly as possible. The Horned King still heard him, "Come in,"

The Creeper stayed as low to the ground as he could, his nervousness coming back as his eye began twitching again. He swallowed hard, "S-sire, the pig boy and the Keyblade Master have, eh, escaped,"

The Horned King motioned with his finger for the Creeper to come forward. The little goblin cowered back but the king repeated his silent command. The nervous green being threw himself to the ground and began sobbing, "Master, this wasn't my fault. No, allow me!" Before the king could say anything the Creeper began to strangle himself again, saving his master the energy.

The king, however, was not angry. In fact, he began laughing, "Good, then they'll lead me back to the pig, and then I get the Cauldron once and for all,"

"Ha ha!" Fleuter laughed triumphantly as he stood behind a bush, "Taron my boy, you are a true hero. I have a feeling there will be many epics about you, and I have the honor of writing the first,"

"Finished!" Elonwy announced as she knotted the thread on the patch she made for Fleuter's leggings before handing them back to the minstrel.

"I was pretty heroic back there, wasn't I?" Taron smiled as he began swinging his sword around.

"It really is a magnificent weapon," Elonwy remarked about the blade, "But I'd say it was more because of it and Sora and Riku that got us out of there,"

Taron winced at his ego being crushed, and snapped back, "Oh, what does a girl know about swords?"

"Girl?!" Elonwy shot up enraged, "Girl?! If it weren't for this 'girl', you, Sora and Riku would still be in that dungeon cell!"

"Hey guys, don't fight! Taron did really help us escape," Sora interrupted to try to keep the peace. Elonwy took it as an insult.

"Oh, you have to take his side! Just like a boy to stick together!" Elonwy stormed away.

"Wait, I only meant—" Sora tried to explain.

"Silly girl, even if she is a princess," Taron added. Elonwy turned back one more time before running into the forest. It had just dawned on the boy he had hurt her feelings and ashamed, Taron went after her.

"…that we all worked together to get out of the castle…" Sora finished mootly.

"Boy, and I thought you were the most hopeless guy when it comes to romance, Sora," Riku rubbed the side of his neck at the awkwardness of the situation.

Sora shot his friend an angry look, "We better go after them so they don't get hurt,"

Taron found Elonwy sitting by a pond beneath the tree. He realized she had been crying and tried to approach her. The princess heard someone behind her and turned around. Seeing it was Taron she furiously rubbed her face to hide her tears, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to apologize. I'm sorry I called you a silly girl," Taron began sheepishly, "And you're right, if you hadn't gotten us out of the dungeon we'd still be there. So thank you,"

Elonwy smiled and got up, accepting Taron's apology, "Ah, young love,"

The two teenagers whipped around and saw Sora and Riku smiling at them. Immediately the two younger people began blushing at the young men's suggestion. Before either could say anything to refute the accusation, they could hear Fleuter screaming. The four ran back to camp as fast as they could and found the minstrel being attacked by a large ball of fur.

"Help, murder! Thief!" Fleuter cried out as a small furry being with bright blue eyes was tugging on the minstrel's lyre, "Take it, take it but don't kill me!"

"Gurgi!" Taron snarled at recognizing the assailant. As soon as the boy called out his name, the furry being stopped harassing Fleuter.

"Oh hello great Master!" Gurgi laughed in a funny voice, "Gurgi was just helping the old man up,"

"Is this pungent little thing a friend of yours?" Fleuter asked as he snatched his stolen hat away from Gurgi.

"He's no friend of mine. He's just a coward and a thief," Taron said grimly.

"Hey Gurgi, where did you go?" A familiar voice called out. From out of a bush a girl with one red eye and one blue one stepped out and looked around. Though she found the person she was looking for, her attention was more focused on the brown haired and white haired boys who were standing away from the action, "Sora? Riku? Guys! Gurgi found them!"

Matilda waved behind her and immediately Donald, Goofy, Lulu, Kairi and Vincent stepped out of the woods. Kairi ran over and threw her arms around Sora, "Oh we were so worried about you two!"

"Kairi?" Sora was immensely shocked by his girlfriend's reaction. Because of their adventure he had completely forgotten that he had been taken away by the dragons, greatly worrying his friends, "How did you get here?"

"Gurgi showed us," Matilda said cheerfully before giving a mischievous look to Donald and Vincent, "See? I told you we can trust Gurgi,"

"Are these people friends of yours, Sora, Riku?" Fleuter asked warily, casting a suspicious eye towards Vincent.

"You bet, these are the people we were separated from when the Horned King got us," Riku explained.

Taron was unconvinced, "You're telling me Gurgi was the one who brought you here?"

"Yeah, we were wandering through the woods when he literally crashed into us," Kairi began, "We asked him if he knew anything about this place and could help us look for our friends. At first it felt like he was taking us in circles but it looks he knew what he was doing,"

"I don't believe it. I bet he was just being with you so he could avoid any real danger," Taron spat, "It's because of him that Henuin got captured in the first place,"

"Oh Taron, leave him alone, I think he's charming," Elonwy smiled at the Gurgi.

"And pungent too!" Gurgi added cheerfully and began jumping about the princess.

"Oh, we haven't been properly introduced!" Elonwy said, realized her manners had slipped, "I am Princess Elonwy,"

"I'm Matilda!" the girl offered her hand, "And over there are Donald, Goofy and Lulu. The girl with Sora is Kairi and the man in the cape is Vincent,"

"These people are Taron and the Minstrel Fleuter. I don't mean to be rude, but you must be the strangest looking girl I've ever seen," Elonwy remarked.

"I thought Sher Khan said that someone from this world would know who Matilda is," Vincent interrupted.

"There is," Riku explained, "The Horned King. He was working for M, we know because when we got captured he mentioned Matilda. But it doesn't look like he wants anything to do with her now, it looks like he has his goals set on something else,"

"Right, the Black Cauldron," Taron added, "And if we don't find Henuin soon he still may get it yet,"

"Piggy?" Gurgi asked, "Master is still looking for Piggy? Gurgi will help, Gurgi will find him, yup,"

"Like last time?" Taron remarked bitterly.

"No, no, Gurgi saw Piggy when helping pretty ladies and weird peoples," Gurgi explained and began acting like a pig to illustrate his point.

"There looks like there are some pig tracks in this mud," Goofy stated and pointed.

"See, Gurgi no lie!" the furry little being said excitedly and added under his breath, "At least not this time," Gurgi led the group to a small lake and on the banks the pig tracks stopped and began hopping across cobblestones that paved the way across the body of water, "Piggy must have gone this way,"

One of cobblestones Gurgi jumped on sank slightly and the next one began to rise up. Suddenly the lake began to swirl and turned into a whirlpool. Gurgi began to panic and Taron called out after him, "Gurgi, hold on!"

The boy tried to get his hand so the furry being could grab it, but lost balance and fell into the water, becoming caught in the whirlpool's undercurrent. Elonwy cried out, "Taron, oh no!"

Immediately Sora tried to grab for Taron while holding onto Riku's arm. But as they tried to grab the boy the whirlpool caught them too. One by one the group became caught by the whirlpool as they tried to rescue the previous friend who fell in until everyone was caught in the water and dragged to the depths below.


	45. The Swamps of Maurva

Chapter Forty-four The Swamps of Maurva

"Almost fixed!" a small gruff voice said, "Just hand me that last rod and I'll be done,"

"Are you sure it will hold?" a second voice asked unsure.

"It's perfect!" the first voice snapped defensively.

Sora was the first to come to. He slowly opened his eyes and carefully lifted up his body. He suspected he wasn't dead because the pain was too bad, but he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was trying to pull Taron out of the whirlpool before falling in, but as he looked around now all he saw were caves and tunnels with crag-like rocks surrounding him. He whipped around and saw all his friends were around them and also alive, and they all seemed to still be asleep. Gently he began waking up Kairi, Riku, Taron and the others until the entire group began to pull themselves together.

"Vincent can you do me a favor?" Donald asked in a muffled voice.

"What?" the Heartless replied grimly as he tried to rub the soreness out of his muscles.

"Get off of me," the duck magician continued. Vincent had landed directly on top of him.

"Huh?" Elonwy asked suddenly.

"What is it, Princess?" Taron asked.

"I thought I saw something," Elonwy began, "But when I tried to give it a second glance, it seemed to have vanished,"

"I heard some people talking, that's what woke me up," Sora admitted, "But I don't see anyone else besides us,"

"We probably should be careful," Riku summoned his sword cautiously.

"Hello there," Matilda said suddenly. The strange girl was still on her hands and knees and staring at a gap between some rocks. Curious, the rest of the group came over to where she was sitting. Where Matilda was looking were a couple of startled looking fairies, one a slightly pudgy one with a top hat and another older disgruntled looking one.

"O-oh, hello," the fairy man pulled off his hat politely, revealing a bald head, "I'm King Idleway of the Fair Folk. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"Gurgi stepped on a rock and it started a whirlpool. All of us got pulled under," Taron explained.

"Doury, I thought you fixed the whirlpool," King Indleway whispered to the disgruntled fairy.

"I did fix it! It was perfect!" Doury snarled, "I suppose the pig is my fault too,"

"Pig?" Taron asked, "That must be Hen!"

"Um yes, is she your pig?" Idleway asked.

"Yes, she is, could you take me to her?" Taron pleaded.

"Of course," the King of the Fairies smiled. The king motioned to the other fairy, "Doury, fetch the pig,"

"Oh I'm a pigkeeper now? As though I didn't have enough to do around here," the bearded fairy grumbled as he wandered off.

Suddenly three little fairy children appeared over Kairi's shoulder. Idleway spotted them right away and seemed irritated, "What are you children doing here?"

The little girl fairy replied shyly, wringing the hem of her dress between her fingers, "We just wanted to see the pwetty ladies,"

"Oh aren't you all just so darling!" Elonwy opened up her hands and let the fairy children land. From the craggy rocks several dozen more fairies came out and flew around the visitors. Kairi, Matilda, Lulu and Elonwy were enchanted by the tiny people while Gurgi tried to catch the little beings in his hand, but each time he tried, they vanished in a poof of twinkling fairy dust.

"Well, here's the pig," Doury said sourly as a little pig came scampering after him.

"Oh Hen, you're safe!" Taron said with a sigh of relief and he gave the animal a hug.

As the fairies continued examining the strangers, Idleway asked a serious question, pointing to the surface world, "Excuse me, can you tell me if the killing is still going on up there?"

"Sadly yes," Fleuter explained, "That black-hearted devil, the Horned King is still continuing the wars, and now he's looking for the Black Cauldron,"

"Oh don't worry, he won't find it," King Idleway reassured them, "The Black Cauldron has been hidden in the dread Swamps of Maurva for centuries. At least I still think it's there. Oh Doury?"

"So on top of everything else I do I'm supposed to remember where people have cauldrons?" Doury grumbled again as he went back to the work of doing repairs around the fairy kingdom.

"Wait, we know where the cauldron is, but the Horned King still doesn't," Taron began to think of an idea, "If we get to the Black Cauldron before he does, we can destroy it once and for all!"

"That's a great idea," Sora said enthusiastically, "Do you know where this swamp is?"

"I'm afraid I don't…" Taron admitted.

"Well we do," Idleway said, "Doury can show you the way,"

Doury began to protest but it was clear he wasn't getting out of this job either. Taron was extremely grateful, "Thank you sir!"

"Good luck on your adventure, young people!" Idleway said cheerfully. Suddenly the citizens of the fairy kingdom turned into dust and began spinning around the group, lifting them gently into the air.

Taron noticed the pig was still on the ground, "What about Henuin?"

"Don't worry, we'll take her home safely," the fairy king waved the group goodbye as they were taken back to the surface.

"Well, here it is, the dread Swamps of Maurva," Doury said matter-of-factly. The group looked around unenthusiastically the gray and brown piece of land they had been traveling in for the past hour. There wasn't a living plant in sight and bones were littered amongst rocks. In the distance groans and moans of horrific sounding creatures could be heard and parts of the ground were boiling and oozing.

"'Dread' is right," Riku frowned, "And we thought the Horned King's castle was bad,"

"Aw, it's not that bad. I'm sure if people called it something else like the fun Swamps of Maurva or the happy Swamps of Maurva people would like it better," Goofy pondered cheerfully.

"It's definitely a good hiding place for the Cauldron," Taron remarked, "But where is hidden exactly?"

"Look, there's a house," Elonwy observed. Built under a large dead tree was a small decrepit looking hut surrounded by strange objects and symbols.

"Who would live in a place like this?" Kairi wondered aloud.

"Well, only one way to find out," Sora immediately headed towards the house and knocked on the door. No one answered.

"I don't like this, we shouldn't be here," Lulu warned as she looked at the white chalk symbol that was traced over the door and door frame.

"I don't either, Lulu," Donald agreed.

"We don't have a choice. If these people know where the Black Cauldron is we need to talk to them," Taron said resolutely. Sora knocked a second time and once again no one replied. Taron and Sora exchanged looks and nodded. The Keyblade Master turned the knob and found the home was left unlocked. The group entered cautiously, prepared for a trap. No one was home as far as anyone could see, but the group couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched.

"What kind of people live here?" Elonwy asked as she observed the large amounts of cauldrons, candles and books kept haphazardly around the dismal shack.

"I don't know, but we should start looking for the cauldron," Lulu tried to answer Elonwy's question but had Taron interrupted her. The others began exploring the house, trying to figure out who lived in the awful place.

"How will we know the Black Cauldron from all these others?" Fleuter wondered. There were at least fifteen cauldrons in the front of the house, and from the storage room in the back several more could be seen. Taron sighed and slumped his shoulders, the minstrel had a point, but the young man didn't have an answer. Everyone stopped looking, there didn't seem to be a point if they weren't even entirely sure what they were looking for. Gurgi jumped on a bureau to get closer to Taron when suddenly several frogs jumped out of its cracked drawers. Elonwy screamed out of surprise and bumped her back against a closet causing dozens more frogs to jump out. From every vessel and storage space in the old house hundreds of frogs jumped out and ran for the door, causing shock and panic to almost everyone inside.

When all of the frogs escaped and things settled down Taron was still confused, "Where did all those frogs come from?"

"Those weren't frogs, those were people," Doury explained as he wiggled himself out of a bottle he fell in during the confusion.

"You mean someone turned people into frogs? W-who would do such a thing?" Fleuter asked with a degree of panic in his voice.

"THIEVES!" Someone screamed. In the door-frame were three old women with gray skin and flaming red hair. They looked completely enraged. The tallest stepped forward, wringing her hands in anger, "How dare you break into our house and steal all our frogs! As punishment we shall turn you all into frogs and eat you!"

Before Taron could explain the mistake the shortest of the three ran forward and grabbed the boy's arm, "Ah, nice and tender, they'll make a good meal,"

"Ladies, please, I think there is some kind of misunderstanding," Fleuter pleaded as Taron barely pulled his arm away from the hag's bite. His sudden presence was caught by the medium height sister, a large plump woman with a lovesick look on her face.

"Well, hello there handsome," she said flirtatiously. Fleuter suddenly realized the woman's intentions.

Before Fleuter could make an excuse for himself the shortest sister raised her arms and transformed the minstrel into a frog. Like an animal the witch chased Fleuter around the hut with a hungry look in her eyes, "Oh no sister, not this time,"

"Back off, I want to keep this one!" the fat sister huffed as she cast a counter spell and transformed Fleuter back into a man. The hag wrapped her arms around Fleuter and began squeezing him. The shortest sister transformed the minstrel into a frog again and he fell down the front of the dress of the woman holding him, "Oh now look what you've done, I've lost him!"

Fleuter leapt out of the woman's cleavage that was threatening to suffocate him and landed in a pot the shortest sister had summoned to try to cook him. He leapt back out of the pot immediately and floated into the air. Lulu had her hand raised and gently brought the frog minstrel into her grasp, "I think that is enough," she said coolly.

"That's very impressive," the tallest sister said as Lulu changed Fleuter back into his human form, "It's been a very long time since I saw someone who can undo one of our spells. Where did you learn your magic?"

"I don't know," Lulu said quietly.

"You remind me of another witch who had come to this house some time ago. She was looking for a magical item," the hag remembered.

"You met someone like me?" Lulu asked urgently, "What was her name? Where was she from?"

"I'm afraid I don't recall. I don't make a habit of remembering names, no one stays here long," the witch explained.

"Was that item she wanted the Black Cauldron?" Taron asked suddenly.

The three witches were taken aback by Taron's question. The three exchanged concerned looks and the fat one whispered, "Ordu, no one has asked for the Black Cauldron for almost two thousand years!"

"Then do you still have it?" Taron asked.

The tallest sister gave her younger siblings a reassuring look, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have something else?" She raised her hand and several pots and pans from the storage room floated out and surrounded Taron, "A cooking pot, maybe? A kettle instead?"

The cookware threatened to attack Taron so he pulled out his sword and began swinging it at the offensive pots. As soon as his magic blade got in contact with his attackers, they all crumbled to dust. Once again the witches were taken by surprise, but the oldest one was also intrigued and amazed.

"I must have that sword!" she whispered to her sisters.

"Ordu, are you sure it's a good idea?" the shortest sister asked.

"Yes, we'll give them the cauldron. It's not like they can do anything with it, and then we'll end up with the cauldron and the sword," The witch approached the group who had been waiting patiently, "You may have the Black Cauldron,"

"You mean you'll just give it to us for free?" Kairi asked.

"No, no, no ducklings. You weren't listening," the witch explained, "We don't give anything. We trade, we bargain,"

Everyone understood what Ordu meant and the group gathered together to discuss what they could pay the hags with. Everyone looked to Taron's magic sword, "No, they'll not have my sword!"

It was clear Taron would not budge on the subject, so Fleuter approached the witches first, "I have a fine harp,"

"A harp? What good what we have with a harp," the sister shook her head, "We can make the birds sing whenever we please. No, it must be something more valuable,"

Gurgi reached into his fur and pulled out an apple core. The little being looked at it sadly and offered it to the witch, "Here is Gurgi's treasure, his munchies and crunchies,"

"You cannot be serious!" the tallest sister sniffed.

"Hold on sister!" the shortest snatched the core away from Gurgi and swallowed it whole.

"What about the Keyblade?" Sora offered his weapon.

"Sora, you can't. You won't be able to defeat the Heartless without it. Use your brain, dummy!" Riku reasoned.

"As wonderful as that weapon is as well, I would be unable to possess it. That sword can only be handled by its master," the witch explained, "It does me no good to own a sword that will vanish once you leave,"

Once again everyone looked at Taron, this time the boy realized he had no choice in the matter and got down on his knees, presenting the sword respectfully, "Then take my most precious possession, my sword,"

"Yes!" the witch cackled victoriously, "We have a bargain!"

Taron's sword disappeared from his hands and the room began to whirl like a cyclone. The three witches vanished and the contents of the house began to rotate around them and disappear into the sky. Everyone dropped to the ground to protect their heads from getting hit by the vanishing objects until the house and all its contents left as though they were never there. Suddenly the ground began to rumble and crack, and from a great chasm in the ground a giant black pot with a monstrous face cast on it moved to the surface. Beneath the demonic looking face was a red and black symbol that was immediately familiar to everyone who had seen it before: the symbol of the Heartless.

"So this thing was designed for summoning super strong Heartless," Sora whispered to his friends.

"Excuse me, witches," Taron called into the sky. The three hags appeared in a cloud formation, looking larger and more powerful than their previous forms had suggested, "How do we destroy it? How do we destroy the Black Cauldron?"

Ordu began laughing, "Silly ducklings, the Black Cauldron can never be destroyed,"

"What! You're telling me we risked our lives for nothing?!" Donald yelled.

"The Black Cauldron can never be destroyed, however, it's evil power can be permanently stopped," the witch explained, "A living being, by his own free choice must go inside the cauldron,"

"Gurgi will do it. Gurgi will stop the evil pot!" Gurgi said cheerfully and prepared to jump inside the giant monstrous vessel.

"But whoever goes into the cauldron will never come out with their hearts," the witch added. Gurgi jumped away from the pot like it was boiling.

"You tricked us!" Taron snarled.

"We did no such thing. The Black Cauldron is fully yours. It's not our fault you can't use it," The witch laughed before the three hags began to disappear, "Goodbye goslings!"

Taron let out a groan of frustration and slumped on the ground next to the cauldron.

There was a definite air of tension as the group prepared camp for the evening. There was no conversation between them as the group stared into the fire, unsure what the next step would be. They had found the Black Cauldron before the Horned King had, but now they weren't sure what to do. To stop it meant the greatest sacrifice a person could make.

"I'm sorry about all of this, everyone," Taron said softly.

"Oh Taron, it's all right. We can still stop the Horned King," Elonwy tried to say comfortingly.

"Ha! I've never seen a bunch of bigger fools in my life!" Doury snarled, "You go on this washed up adventure to try to stop the Horned King and all you did is make his job easier! I'm out of here!"

With that Doury vanished in a cloud of fairy dust, to return to his home beneath the lake. Once again the group became silent and depressed. Sora, however, had had enough. He leapt up suddenly and pointed at Taron, "Cut this out! You want to be a hero, remember? Heroes don't quit just because things don't go according to plan. So what if getting to the Black Cauldron first won't stop the Horned King? Then we'll try something else!"

"Sora's right. We'll fight along side you Taron, we can't give up now," Elonwy looked straight into Taron's eyes with determination.

"Elonwy, thank you," Taron said softly, taking the princess's hands into his own. He looked around to Fleuter, Sora, Riku, Vincent, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Lulu and Matilda, "Thank you everyone. This war isn't over yet,"

Just then a terrible screeching could be heard just above them. In the flickering shadows of the fire on the ground and the fading sunlight above, the silhouettes of the Horned King's dragons were visible. The dragons dived towards the Black Cauldron and from behind the rocks and misshapen trees of the swamp, a battalion of the Horned King's hulking fighters emerged and attacked. The group did their best to fight them off but the staggering numbers were too much for the Keyblade Master and his friends. But in the confusion, Matilda, Piff and Gurgi seemed to have disappeared.


	46. A True Hero

Chapter Forty-five A True Hero

"Did you really think you could stop me?" the Horned King hissed victoriously as he observed his captives. Taron, Sora, Elonwy, Riku, Kairi Goofy and Fleuter had their hands bound to a beam in the king's personal quarters. Lulu and Donald were bound and gagged in a corner so they could not perform spells, while Vincent was chained up as no rope could hold him, "An assistant pigkeeper, a scullery maid, a minstrel, a group of simpleminded children and a deluded monster,"

The entire group struggled against their captivity at the insults spouted by the evil being. The Creeper was running around his master's feet joyfully, knowing there was no way he could be punished now. The Black Cauldron was brought in by a group of the king's large warriors and placed in the middle of the large chamber for all to observe. The king cast one last triumphant glance at the incapacitated warriors trapped on the wall before going to examine his treasure. The Creeper skipped ahead, "See, master, I did it, you now have the Black Cauldron,"

"Yes," the king hissed, "The power to raise an army of immortal Heartless and take over the world is finally mine. Watch foolish mortals, as with this power mere men shall look to me as though I am a god!"

The Horned King stepped onto the pedestal the cauldron had been set on and waved his thin skeletal arms over the empty pot. The giant vessel began to glow an unearthly green. At first the transformation was slow as the light on flashed the ceiling, casting long ghoulish shadows on the broken stones and pieces of furniture that filled the decrepit chamber of the dying castle. Then a second light ignited as ghostly light blue smoke oozed from the cauldron and pooled onto the floor. It was when this smoking slime hit the shadows cast by the green light did the horrific changes happen. The shadows began to pull themselves from the floor and form into beings Sora and the others have never seen before. The symbol blazed across these creatures' chests indicated they were Heartless, but their forms were unknown to those who have fought Heartless before. These Heartless took the form of skeletal warriors with heavy black armor, and as soon as they took form, they began to head for the doors of the chamber. Some of the curious warriors that had previously served the Horned King had stayed to watch the ceremony, but had run for their lives as soon as the cauldron Heartless began approaching them with murder in their cold black eyes.

"Go my cauldron born warriors!" the king ordered, "Go and kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Oh Taron this is so awful," Elonwy whimpered as she tried to avert her eyes from the terrible sight. One of the king's human warriors had not escaped fast enough and became the victim of the Heartless.

"I've never seen Heartless like that. Even the Darkside Heartless were never this bad," Sora's stomach became an uncomfortable knot as he hoped the Heartless wouldn't chose to attack the people chained in their master's room.

"Let's go master, let us go and see our—I mean your success," the Creeper said cheerfully as he led the Horned King by the hand to one of the towers for a better view of impending carnage.

As the king left the room, Sora heard a familiar whinny behind him. From the other side of a broken sewer grate Matilda had a finger to her lips and was winking at the Keyblade Master. Piff was sitting obediently in her arms and Gurgi was on her shoulder. Sora hissed, "Matilda, Gurgi, what are you doing here?"

"Gurgi came to set great master and his friends free from this terrible place," Gurgi said cheerfully as he jumped off of Matilda's shoulder and began untying Taron and the others.

"When the dragons came, Gurgi dragged me off so they couldn't get us," Matilda explained and began untying her own friends, starting with Sora, "At first I thought he was being a coward like Taron was saying all the time. But it's a good thing we did run away or we couldn't help you out now,"

"Let's get out of here master, let's run far away from this terrible place," Gurgi grabbed Taron's hand and began dragging him away.

"No, wait," Taron said as he turned the opposite direction and began climbing up a wall that lead to a broken bridge just over the Black Cauldron.

"Taron, what are you doing?" Sora asked as he used his Keyblade to set Vincent free from the chains.

"We must save Prydain, I am going into the Black Cauldron and stopping the Horned King once and for all," Taron explained as he prepared to jump into the giant pot just below. There were cries of protest from the entire party at his plans. But before Taron could throw himself off of the broken bridge, a blur of fur zipped in front of him.

It was Gurgi, "No great master, don't. Great master has lots of friends. Gurgi doesn't have any friends. He's just a smelly coward,"

"Gurgi that's not true! I didn't mean those things—" Taron tried to argue, but before he could finish, the little furry being was already off the edge. All Taron could do is watch as Gurgi voluntarily disappeared into the eerie green light that was emitted from the cauldron, "NO!"

"Taron, it's too late," Sora grabbed onto Taron just as the boy tried to go in after his furry little friend. Just then the smoke and light pouring out of the cauldron began to reverse, pulling back in the demonic contents it had been previously been spewing out. The Heartless coming out of the shadows began to collapse and fall, melting back into the darkness from which they were born. As the Heartless began to disappear, the ancient castle began to lurch threateningly, "Now we really have to go, this castle isn't going to last long. And I don't even want to think of what the Horned King will do if he finds us still here,"

Taron refused to listen though he climbed down with Sora off of the bridge, "There still might be a chance for Gurgi. I want to stay here in case he needs my help. But please get the others out of here,"

Sora opened his mouth to argue, but it was clear he could not convince the teen boy of anything. Instead the Keyblade Master motioned for his friends to move out, and dragged Elonwy away from Taron towards safety.

Meanwhile, back in the tower, the Horned King was not pleased with what he was seeing. One moment he was seconds away from victory, his immortal warriors heading towards a battle whose violence had never been seen before, but now the Heartless were clutching their throats as though suffocating and melted into pools of black liquid. The Horned King grabbed the Creeper by his throat and began squeezing mercilessly, "What is happening?"

"Sire, they appear to be dying…" the Creeper couldn't think of any explanation of why this was happening.

"This is your fault," the king hissed.

"Maybe a heart needs to be added to keep them alive?" the Creeper replied, hoping the answer would spare his life.

"Then your heart shall feed the Cauldron's hunger," the Horned King began walking back towards his chambers, grabbing at the slime that was once the Heartless and demanding they return to their battle. The Creeper begged and pleaded with the dead Heartless, hoping some last second miracle would save his life. Suddenly the Horned King dropped the little goblin and wasting no time, the Creeper scampered away as quickly as he could. The evil king had spotted Taron clinging onto a stake in the wall, the monstrous vessel became like a black hole and threatening to drag the young man into its depths, "You!"

Taron turned to see the Horned King storming towards him, his blood red eyes full of fire. Sora spotted this too and motioned to Vincent to join him, "Riku, get the others out of here, this castle isn't going to last long,"

Riku hesitated, but eventually nodded and motioned for everyone to follow him, "Everyone who would like to see tomorrow, please come this way,"

Taron was defenseless as the Horned King grabbed onto his tunic and ripped him away from the wall that was his only piece of safety, "I will not be defeated, pig-boy, your heart will feed the cauldron's evil appetite,"

"Not this time!" something hit the Horned King in the back of the head, forcing the king to drop the boy he was threatening to kill. Sora had his Keyblade with the keychain from the castle attached and ready for battle. Taron desperately tried to avoid the vessel's pull after being dropped, but found himself in the tight grip of Vincent's metal claw. The Horned King tried to hit Sora with his bare hands, but Sora's battle experience let him avoid every blow until he led the evil being closer and closer to the monstrous vortex the Black Cauldron had become. The king stumbled on his long red robes and grabbed onto the edge of the pot and stared directly into the monstrous face that was part of the cauldron's design.

"No! You shall not have me!" the king screamed, the first time a genuine note of fear could be heard in his voice. But the cauldron didn't seem to care as the monstrous man-like face of the king the pot had trapped began to glow. The Horned King struggled against its power, but inevitably, the battle belonged to the more evil king, forever prisoner in his cast iron dungeon. The vortex slowly pulled the robe, then the skin, then at the bones of the Horned King, until the last bits of the evil man was pulled inside the Black Cauldron, to be trapped forever.

The Horned King may have been gone, but the danger had not yet passed. Though the vortex began to diminish, the strain it caused on the ancient castle made it begin to collapse. Sora realized the danger, "Okay, folks, time to go!"

Taron made no argument as Vincent continued to drag the boy as they both followed the Keyblade Master through the collapsing castle. They ran through the winding corridors, avoiding falling stones and cave-ins of badly maintained rooms. Up ahead Sora could see Riku waving to him, the rest of the group waiting in two boats that fate had the mercy of leaving in the waterways that connected the inside of the castle to the moat outside. Vincent threw Taron into the boat with Kairi, Elonwy, Fleuter and Matilda and jumped into the second one just behind it. Riku slapped his friend on the back, "Just in time, loser, we were about to leave you behind,"

"Now is not the time for jokes!" Fleuter said angrily as he saw his life in serious danger, "Hurry lads, the gate leading to the outside is locked!"

"Not for long!" Sora jumped into the water and pointed his Keyblade at the gate in front of the first boat and with a beam of light and a click, the gate unlocked. He kicked it open before Riku and Vincent dragged him into the boat and the two small ships pushed themselves into the waterway. It was just then that the last groan of the castle could be heard, and the entire structure collapsed. The momentum of the large building getting pushed into the water caused the small boats to be propelled forward with a great degree of speed. With their oars they were barely able to stay in control until they were finally out of the remnants of the stone structure and their boats were washed ashore. They were in awe as the last few pieces of stone rolled off the rotten foundation into the water below.

A final cry could be heard as one of the small dragons that had formerly served the Horned King flew over, with a tiny laughing being on its back. The Creeper was laughing hysterically, with two pretend horns on his heads, thrilled that his evil master was finally gone. Taron kept staring at the water, hoping for something more to happen, for a small hairy being with bring blue eyes to pop out of the water and annoy him. Something did happen, however: the Black Cauldron floated to the surface of the lake that was formerly a moat and washed ashore.

"Gurgi…" Taron said sadly. He could no longer hold in his emotion. He screamed in rage and threw a rock at the now harmless giant pot. Elonwy put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, trying to hold back her own tears as Taron rubbed his eyes furiously.

The sky above began to part and in the cloud formations, the three hags had reappeared, "You're not happy with the Cauldron, duckies?" No one answered. While Prydain was saved, no one could exactly say they were happy with what had happened. The oldest sister, Ordu exchanged a satisfied look with her little sisters, "Well, then, we'll just take it back,"

As the witches began to grab for the Black Cauldron, Fleuter stepped forward, "Hold on ladies, we don't give anything away. We trade, we bargain…"

The fat sister giggled, "Oh I love a man who takes charge!"

"Madam, contain yourself!" Fleuter said exasperatedly.

"No!" Ordu cried as she realized what Fleuter wanted in exchange for the cauldron, "Not the sword!"

"If you won't do it, I will," the fat sister commanded. She pointed her fingers in front of Taron and summoned the magic sword he sacrificed to get the cauldron in the first place, "Here, a sword for a great warrior,"

"I'm no warrior, I'm just an assistant pigkeeper. Gurgi was the real hero," Taron sniffed softly. The oldest witch happily took the sword back. Taron realized what he should ask for from the witches, "Can you, can you bring back Gurgi?"

The sisters exchanged sympathetic looks, "Oh no, we can't,"

"Ha, just as we expected. You do a lot of flashy stuff, but you don't actually have any real power!" Donald snapped. The three witches looked extremely insulted and began to swirl around the Black Cauldron. The group was in fear of the rage these witches would inflict on them, but as the hags and the cauldron disappeared something was left in its place: Gurgi's body.

Taron cautiously approached the furry little being and picked him up. Gurgi hung limply in Taron's arms, and Taron lost all decorum he had left. He held the little being close to his chest and began sobbing into his fur, "Munchies and crunchies must be in here somewhere!"

"Taron look!" Elonwy squealed in delight as she ran over to the teen boy. Gurgi was waking up and poking around in the boy's tunic, looking for another apple to steal like he had when they first met.

"Gurgi, you're alive!" Taron shouted happily. Gurgi looked himself over, suddenly realizing what Taron said was true.

"Great master! Gurgi is alive!" The little being sprung out of the boy's arms and wrapped himself around his neck. Elonwy rushed over to hug Gurgi too, but with a slippery move Gurgi jumped up and pushed Elonwy and Taron's faces together, forcing them to kiss.

Sora, Kairi and Riku laughed at the blushing young people and the Keyblade Master looked to the sky, "Well, another world saved from the Heartless,"

"What can we ever do to thank you Sora?" Taron asked gratefully.

"Just promise the next time I come back you'll be a great knight, okay?" Sora grinned. Taron smiled and nodded and looking to Elonwy and Fleuter, realized it was time to leave.

"We hope to see you again Sora, Riku, everyone," Taron smiled as grabbed one of Gurgi's hands and began heading down the road for home.

"Good luck Taron!" Riku and Kairi called out.

"Don't get into too much trouble Gurgi!" Matilda laughed as she tried to hide the few tears she shed from the frowning Vincent. The pig keeper, the princess, the minstrel and the furry little being turned back for one last wave before disappearing into the forest.

"So what do we do now?" Riku asked seriously. Though Prydain was saved, they were no closer to unlocking Matilda's mystery.

"You hand the girl over to me," a cool singsong voice replied. Everyone turned around instantly. Standing casually behind them was Seymour.


	47. The Loss of a Friend

Chapter Forty-six The Loss of a Friend

"Seymour!" Sora yelled, summoning his Keyblade upon seeing the robed man who had attacked them in Olympus Coliseum.

"I must thank you, Keyblade Master," Seymour smiled, "You've done me two great services. First is by getting rid of the Horned King you have removed a traitor that was interfering with our plans, and the second is by fighting him you've made yourself weak enough that defeating you won't cause me too much strain,"

"You might have gotten out of fighting us last time, Seymour, but Hades isn't around to get in our way," Riku followed suit and summoned his own weapon. Kairi, Donald and Goofy, Vincent and Lulu did the same while positioning themselves in front of Matilda.

The blue haired man began waving his arms in an elegant fashion before ending his spell by pointing his arms at the lake in front of him. The ground began to shake and the group prepared for another monster to pop out of the ground like Anima had in Olympus Coliseum. But the monster did not come out of the ground, it came out of the water. From the lake a giant gray-blue skinned Heartless crawled to the shore, with dozens of eyes on its head pointing in all directions. Seymour looked to the creature before looking back to the warriors in front of him, "This is Sin. You may have defeated Anima with the help of the death god, but Sin is more like a death god in itself. Nothing can defeat it. Sin, kill them,"

On its master's command the giant Heartless lunged at the group on the shore. The warriors barely got out of the way as a giant crater was left in the place they had been standing. The Heartless seemed greatly disappointed as it spit out the dirt it had bit into instead of the fighters. The groups were now scattered and in smaller numbers were more vulnerable. Sin began lunging at the smaller groups, attacking them with its mouth and swatting at them with its large lumbering limbs. As they tried to survive the attack of the giant, Seymour ran for Matilda, a spell in his hands ready to face whoever got in his way. Lulu grabbed Matilda and pushed her towards Vincent, "It's her he's after. Get her out of the way,"

"Got it!" the Heartless man snatched the teen girl around the waist and tried to dash away.

"Thundara!" Seymour sent down a cascade of thunderbolts, blocking Vincent's escape route.

"Aerora!" Lulu countered, "You'll be safe as long as the spell lasts. GO!"

Vincent braved the electric wall and passed right through it, heading for the opposite side of the lake for safety. Seymour snarled at the witch, "Blizzara!"

"Firara!"

"Watera!"

"Gravira!" the two magic users continued to exchange blows, each spell stronger than the last, neither willing to give up. Lulu continued to blast her spells at Seymour, preventing him from passing her and potentially getting to Matilda. While the Nobody was successful at keeping the evil man away, she noticed Seymour did not seem concerned that she was blocking him.

Sora and the others continued to hold out against Sin, barely weakening the extremely strong Heartless. They were distracting it away from the strange blue and red eyed girl Vincent was protecting, and Seymour was in the middle of a fight with the Nobody witch. Lulu couldn't understand why Seymour was so calm, until Sin reared up and dived back into the water. From the lake dozens upon dozens of scale shaped Heartless leapt out of the water and rained down on Vincent. Lulu screamed out, "No!"

Their massive numbers caught the Heartless man off-guard, knocking him over and separating him from Matilda. While some of the new monsters busied themselves with Vincent, the rest started grabbing onto Matida's arms and legs. She screamed for help as Piff, the tiny crippled pegasus tried to fight back against the gray-blue monsters. The Heartless man was blasting away as many of the Sin scales as he could, but they were overwhelming him and burying him. Sora and the others tried to save Matilda as the Heartless began dragging her towards the lake, but once again the main body of Sin had raised its head from the water and was once again attacking the Keyblade Master and his friends. As Lulu turned to watch the scene in horror, Seymour struck an underhanded blow, "Firara!"

The attack hit its mark directly. For a moment Lulu was consumed by flame and knocked to the ground. The hem of Lulu's dress and her sleeves were completely burned, the longest parts of her hair were singed and parts of her skin were badly scalded. Though she was terribly injured she forced herself up and ran to aid Matilda. Seymour was so shocked the woman had survived the attack that did nothing to stop her as she escaped him. She could feel she only had enough magic to cast one last spell, if she healed herself she would be unable to do anything to save Matilda, so instead she gathered the last of her energy to cast her most powerful piece of magic. She threw the teddy bear she carried in front of her and it acted as though it came to life. It mimicked her movements as she continued to run for the monsters climbing on Matilda and holding back Vincent on the other side of the small lake. She raised her arms and cried out with all her might, "MAGIC FLARE!"

The shadows from the trees, fighters and rocks on the ground crawled together and separated into the seven colors of the rainbow before crashing into a wave of pure white light. The Heartless attacking her two close friends vaporized instantly. Lulu collapsed face first onto the ground in front of Matilda and the girl rushed over to help, "Lulu, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Are you and Vincent all right?" Lulu panted as she lied on the shore of the lake. As to answer her question, Vincent leapt up and shook the dust from his clothing.

He seemed greatly irritated with himself, "I could have handled it. They weren't that strong,"

"I know, but it looks like the Keyblade Master needs your help more. No sense wasting good energy and weapons on weak opponents, right?" Lulu quit trying to pull herself upright.

"You look like you're in bad shape," Vincent observed.

"I've looked worse. You should have seen what the Organization did for training," Lulu laughed, "Go, babysitting duty awaits,"

Vincent looked to Sin. It was now shooting beams of light from its skin, one seemed to have grazed Goofy on the backside because he yelped and grabbed the seat of his pants when it hit him. The Heartless man looked back to Lulu, but she gave him the thumbs up. Vincent roared as he ran for the main body of Sin. The monster tried to dive back into the water to summon more Heartless scales but Vincent wouldn't let it. Changing cartridges as he somersaulted into the air he switched to his exploding charges and sent at least four into Sin's body. Their explosion caused the monster to fall down, allowing Sora, Riku and Kairi to have an open shot to hit the vulnerable parts of its front. Donald and Goofy followed suit and ran over to where Matilda and Lulu were and used their magic and special attacks to hit its neck and back.

Sin tried to force itself up, clearly much weaker than it was before, but Vincent would not allow it to recover. As it lifted itself up, Vincent shot it again. He repeated his action with the exploding charges, and Sora, Kairi and Riku divided their attack to hit three separate places. Donald and Goofy did not repeat their attacks at the back. Even without their help Sin was steadily getting weakened. Another round of attacks, followed by another and another. Exploding shots, slices from swords and Keyblades repeated until Sin reared back one last time, groaned and vanished leaving behind a giant heart that floated into the sky. The Heartless had been defeated.

"Nothing can defeat Sin, huh?" Sora sneered and twirled his Keyblade victoriously.

Seymour frowned at his defeat but smiled when he looked on the opposite side of the shore, "Well, you may have defeated Sin, but not without a price it looks like,"

Sora, Kairi, Vincent and Riku looked to where Seymour had indicated. Sora realized why Donald and Goofy had stopped fighting, they had seen Lulu collapsed on the shore and the panicked look on Matilda's face. They were trying to help the injured Nobody. Immediately the group ran over to help their fallen friend, Vincent managed to get there first and got on his knees in front of the woman to check on her.

"S-she said she'd be fine. She said she'd be fine," Matilda repeated, looking from person to person for help, "She said she's be fine, Vincent, she asked if we were okay!"

"Calm down," Vincent ordered. Gently he picked Lulu up and turned her over. She was much worse that he thought she'd be. Her already pale face was ashen and her breathing was heavily labored, "Lulu, can you hear me?"

"Vincent…" she wheezed. The Nobody forced her eyes open, but she couldn't focus her eyes on the man holding her.

Vincent looked angrily at Donald and Goofy, "You stopped fighting, why didn't you help her when you weren't helping us?"

"We tried Vincent," Goofy said sadly, "Donald tried every healing spell he knows, he's out of magic," Donald looked completely drained, "And I tried every magic item I have. Nothing's helped,"

Little black wisps began coming off of Lulu's body. Sora immediately recognized what it meant. The color drained from his face, "No…no…"

"Lulu!" Vincent snarled angrily, "You can't do this. This isn't over yet, don't quit on me! What about training at the Organization?"

"I lied," Lulu gave a weak smile as her body continued to break apart, "I didn't want you to worry,"

"I'm a Heartless you idiot, I couldn't have worried even if I wanted to. Why did you have to go and do that? I told you I could have handled it," Vincent said hollowly. Lulu's body was already half-gone, "You haven't found your Somebody yet, you still haven't found out who you are. We found someone who knew you, you can't give up now that we're so close,"

Lulu lifted up her fading hand and touched it to Vincent's face. She whispered one final sentence, "Even though I was just a Nobody, you made me feel like a Somebody, Vincent."

With that her hand went limp and her eyes closed for the final time. The rest of her body faded with a final few wisps of black that vanished into the gray sky.

Kairi buried her head in Sora's shoulder and began sobbing. The Keyblade Master gently stroked her head, doing his best to stay strong himself. Donald and Goofy took their hats off and placed them over their hearts, and Riku bowed his head in respect. Matilda stood up and stepped back, clasping her hands over her mouth to hold back her horror and the aching sobs that where threatening to escape her. Her knees shook, and a few stray tears escaped her red and blue eyes that were wide in terror. Vincent had not moved, he stayed sitting on his knees, holding his arms out like Lulu was still there, staring into the spot that she had just been.

"What a touching scene. As one once charged with overlooking mourning on my own world, I can tell you that your friend is in a better place. Then again, Nobodies don't really exist so they don't really go anywhere," Seymour laughed.

"How, how could you?!" Kairi shrieked.

"Being of the Darkness! You will be punished for what you've done!" Sora summoned his Keyblade and Donald, Goofy and Riku jumped up to join in the fight. But before any of them could act, the group heard a strange sound from behind them. Vincent's body was growing, his skin was becoming rubbery and his human hand was becoming a claw: he was once again transforming into a full Heartless.

When his transformation was complete he reared up and roared, before falling back on all fours. He took a step towards Seymour. The blue haired man sneered at his good fortune, "M, may I never doubt you again. Your plan worked perfectly this time, not only is the Horned King gone and the Keyblade Master on his already near defeat, I have a shiny new Heartless to replace poor Sin and Anima,"

The wizard arched his arms and bowed and a strange light came off of the Heartless Vincent's body. The Heartless shook itself and stepped back. He looked at Sora and the others and prepared to attack. The young man leapt out of the way when Vincent lunged at him. He gave a panicked look to his friends, trying to figure out how to not lose another friend so soon. Sora tried to approach the Heartless with his Keyblade, hoping the light that had saved them in Traverse Town would save him again. The Keyblade Master held his ground as Vincent charged at him a second time. Sora pleaded with whoever was listening to his thoughts that the plan would work. He closed his eyes just as Vincent leapt at him and waited for the attack. It did not come. Slowly Sora had opened his eyes to see if the light from his Keyblade had stopped his mutated friend. It had not. The Keyblade was as lightless it usually was, but Vincent was still sitting in front of him, not sure what his next move would be. Sora realized the air had suddenly gotten very, very cold and his teeth began to chatter.

The temperature seemed to drop rapidly, becoming so cold that Sora and the others could not help but fall on their knees and hug themselves for warmth. A violent wind whipped up swirling through the trees surrounding the lake on Prydain. Sora looked up to see Matilda standing, face obscured, staring at the ground with the wind blowing her hair. Seymour was losing patience with the event, as his thin robes offered little protection against the sudden chill, and billowed unpleasantly in the wind, "Enough of this. Heartless, finish them off,"

Vincent didn't move. The wolf-man like Heartless sat perfectly still, as though he were waiting for a new command from a different master. Matilda suddenly looked up and directed her gaze into Seymour's eyes. The gentle, naïve child-like teen girl seemed to have disappeared. Instead, an ancient seeming being with delicate power and grace had a look of cold calculated rage in her blue and red eyes. Sora saw this same power and looked fearfully to his friends, not understanding what was happening. Kairi, Donald and Goofy seemed just as confused by the sudden change, but Riku had a frightened look of recognition on his face. He had seen Matilda like this before.

"E-enough. Vincent, attack!" Seymour's gracious persona seemed to melt. Even his near defeat at the hands of the god Hades didn't leave the young man so shaken, "Attack!"

"You have no power over him now," Matilda said softly. Though the howling wind was still roaring around the battle scene everyone could hear the girl's words clearly. She gestured forward and Vincent charged at Seymour. The terrified magician tried to run away, but Vincent was quickly gaining on him. The blue haired man cast a spell, knocking the Heartless away.

"How is this possible?" Seymour asked fearfully, trying to figure out how to escape the traitorous Heartless.

"I remember everything now," Matilda began. The howling wind and freezing cold began to subside, "I remember who I am, where I come from, what I truly am,"

"No, it's impossible! There's no way you could remember. We made sure we kept you from finding out!" Seymour shrieked.

"My name, my true name," Matilda paused. She walked confidently over to the magician, setting her hand on Vincent, who was sitting like an obedient guard dog, "is Kingdom Hearts,"


	48. Matilda's Heart

Chapter Forty-seven Matilda's Heart

"It's impossible," Sora whispered as he stared at Matilda in awe. He couldn't believe that the teen girl that earlier was acting like a sweet innocent child with a cheerful smile and a gentle heart was the greatest power ever known, "It can't be!"

Matilda turned away momentarily from Seymour and gave a sad smile to Sora. Only a glint of what she was before remained in her eyes, "Yes Sora, my dear, dear friend, my protector for so long. I am the Heart of All Worlds,"

"It's not possible! I've been to Kingdom Hearts, I've seen Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts isn't a person, it looks like a giant heart-shaped moon. This doesn't make any sense!" Sora got up from the ground and tried to walk over to the girl. Riku stopped him.

"No Sora, it makes perfect sense," Riku held onto his friend's shoulder, "This explains everything. While she was nice all the time, I always felt that she was much more powerful and dangerous than she seemed. When she got angry and looked at you, it was scary. That feeling of cold we felt, that wasn't a drop in temperature, that was her releasing her power. It's why you healed so quickly in Cape Suzette even after Wisdom Mode, Sora. And she constantly had memories of other people: Kairi's, Cloud's, mine. The memories live in the heart, as the Heart of All Worlds, she would possess the memory of all living things,"

"But how did this happen?" Sora was still in disbelief and trying to wrap his mind around this new reality. A reality where a friend had died, and another friend was in peril.

"An evil being broke through the gates of Darkness in Hollow Bastion. He had come to take my power, it could not be allowed," Matilda began, "But the Keyblade Master was nowhere to stop him, I had to do something to save all worlds, so I sealed my power within a human form. I escaped from the Realm of Darkness into the Magnificent Gardens outside the palace and that's when Vincent found me. Becoming human has limited my powers greatly and caused a rift between the realms of Light, Darkness and Nonexistance and therefore my memories were lost. There is no danger of the worlds collapsing or vanishing, but it allowed the Heartless to escape and have free reign,"

"So that's why there were Heartless all over the place, but all the world's Keyholes didn't need to be sealed," Sora suddenly understood.

"Very good Sora, so you're not as stupid as everyone had always told me," a strange hollow voice said suddenly.

A being about Kairi's height with a hooded cape and dark clothing stepped out from the woods behind Seymour. Its clothing was so loose and face hidden, so gender was impossible to identify. Matilda suddenly had a look of complete terror on her face, "The dark being!"

"M!" Seymour said victoriously. The wizard got up and rearranged himself, his smug arrogant persona back in full force, "Well Kingdom Hearts, it looks like I haven't lost yet,"

"Sora, please help, please help," Matilda began to cower and back away like a frightened child.

M gestured with his arm and suddenly a pool of black formed under the blue haired young man. Tentacles of darkness lurched violently out and grasped onto his arms and legs. Seymour whipped his head around to face his ally, "M, what are you doing?"

"You've outlived your usefulness and are now being an obstacle. Kingdom Hearts regaining her memories is going to make things difficult. And the Keyblade Master and his friends are still alive," M explained plainly.

Seymour struggled again the darkness as it began pulling him down into oblivion. The wizard screamed, "You said for success we have to work together!"

"And I also said I'd be willing to do anything necessary to see my plans come through," M said matter-of-factly, "I told you your arrogance would only bring your downfall,"

"You won't get away with this!" Seymour snarled as fought to keep his head above the black pool that was absorbing him.

"I don't know what you're so upset about, Seymour. You said you wanted to be the God of Death. A little first hand experience would do you some good," M smiled as the final part of the blue haired man vanished. Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy stood stunned as they witnessed the act of blatant cruelty M had committed against his own ally. The being turned his attention back on Matilda and began to walk decisively towards her, "Now Kingdom Hearts, it is time to get the power I've been wanting for so long,"

"V-vincent," Matilda whimpered. On her order the Heartless Vincent lunged at M, prepared to tear the being to shreds. M reacted faster. The being raised its arm and summoned fifty Darkside Heartless from the black shadows of the forest. The giant tentacle haired monsters tackled Vincent and began tearing at his body.

Sora and the others snapped out of their shock, "C'mon guys! They need our help!"

"Right!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Riku ran to the rescue. Riku and Kairi began shredding at the Heartless threatening their friend and as Vincent seemed to realize he was not as outnumbered as before, began fighting back even more violently against his hated brethren.

While the others worried about the Heartless, Sora turned his attention to M. The Keyblade Master once again used his energy and transformed into one of his alternate modes, Valor Mode. His clothes turned fiery red and a second Keyblade appeared in the young man's hand. He leapt at M with more grace and speed than normal, using an elaborate combination of moves to attack the threatening being. M moved deftly out of the way. Sora tried to attack again, alternating swipes between the Keyblades in his left and right hands, but the harder Sora seemed to try to attack M, the faster M seemed to move to avoid the attacks.

"I have to say I'm impressed Sora, no one's ever gotten this close to me before," M said mockingly as the being casually flicked from side to side, just missing the sharp end of Sora's weapons. Sora snarled as he continued to try to strike the irritating villain. Meanwhile, just as Donald, Goofy and the others seemed to have gotten rid of all the monsters a second flood of Darkside's came out of the shadows, larger than the first. While half turned their attention back to the warriors, the others went after the human form of Kingdom Hearts.

Sora realized M had been playing him for a fool. The Keyblade Master was wasting valuable energy trying to fight M, and his friends were distracted by the hordes of super-powerful Heartless. In attempts to keep Matilda protected, they left the girl almost defenseless. Sora screamed out to the girl who seemed still paralyzed by fear, "Matilda, RUN!"

The girl seemed to snap to life and began running away from the giant monsters getting closer and closer towards her. As they began to gain on her, she let out a powerful blast of chilling power, causing the Heartless to be thrown back. She tried to run towards the opening in the forest that Taron, Fleuter and Elonwy had gone down hours earlier. Sora could feel he was just about to run out of power to maintain Valor Mode, and in a last ditch effort, swung one of his Keyblades aimlessly in M's direction. At first The Keyblade Master thought he struck his mark as the blade sheered through plumes of darkness, but as he swung around he realized he had not hit M at all, M had merely melted back into the shadows. As Matilda ran towards the opening in the forest, M materialized from one of the shadows before her. The being grabbed onto the girl's arm and began pulling her towards its body. The girl struggled against the villain's iron grip and tried blasting him with shots of power, but her strength didn't seem to affect him at all, M seemed to be enjoying it. M pulled Matilda's arm to his chest and as soon as her body made contact with the being's it started to become absorbed.

"Sora! Somebody!" Matilda screamed desperately. Sora and the others tried to run over but as they got within distance of the girl, more Heartless of every shape and size appeared, blocking the heroes' way. Matilda continued to scream as her chest and legs began being pulled inside M's body. Just then a violent roar came from behind the group and the Heartless Vincent leapt over the monster horde and tried to get to the living form of Kingdom Hearts. Only Matilda's head and other arm still remained outside M's being. She held out her arm and as Vincent slashed through the other Heartless still trying to keep him back, he reached out one of his golden claws to try to grab for Matilda's begging arm. Her face was in tears as it vanished within M's body with a final sob, "Vincent!"

Vincent let out a violent howl as he escaped the beings of Darkness holding him back. He tried to lunge for his master's arm just as it became consumed by M. A sudden blast of darkness threw Vincent back against a tree and the rest of the Heartless became incinerated instantly. The ground, the sky, the water of Prydain began darker and grayer than it had under the reign of the Horned King. And in the forest's entrance, M threw back its head and began laughing madly. He continued to laugh as his shadowy body vanished in a haze of darkness.

Sora let out a scream of rage and ran over to slash at the air where M had just stood and tripped over something, causing him to fall face first in the dirt. As he lifted himself up he began to punch the ground in frustration when he noticed what he had tripped on, a black and white pendant. He picked it up and stood to face his friends, hoping their good wishes would be enough to take away the feeling of absolute failure that was quickly consuming his heart. It did not, instead, they had just as desperate and lost looks, wanting to understand why things had gone so wrong so quickly. Sora was just about to bury his face in his hands when he noticed the Heartless form of Vincent still knocked out against the large oak tree he had crashed into. The Heartless's body began to glow and dissipate.

_Vincent was covered with scratches and the black blood of a Heartless as he walked down to the city below the palace of Hollow Bastion. His appearance had changed greatly in the months since he became a being without a heart. He no longer wore the suit of a Turk, instead he wore dark clothing with a red cape to cover his deformed hand and the symbol of the Heartless that always appeared on the layers of clothing that actually touched his skin. He let his hair grow out long, his only attempt to control it was a headband that distracted people away from the emotionless glare on his face. People gave him strange looks as he walked through town and many mothers ushered their young children away from the street as Vincent walked past. The man ignored them, they meant nothing to him, meaningless faces in the crowd. He was looking for someone specific._

"_Hey fella!" Vincent stopped, ready for a fight. But instead of any real danger, a little girl with short brown hair was standing with a star shaped weapon in her small hands, "You've gotta say your name before we let you pass!"_

"_Yuffie, leave the guy alone!" A young teen boy with brown hair groaned, "It looks like he was hurt in a fight,"_

"_But he could be a Heartless, Squall!" Yuffie whined._

"_Leon! Call me Leon! I hate my first name, what kind of name is 'Squall' anyway? It makes me sound poor," Leon replied. "And don't be stupid, Heartless don't look like people, besides, would a Heartless be walking down the street like this?" _

"_Where is a magician named Merlin?" Vincent demanded, interrupting the bickering youths._

_A teen girl with long brown hair and a boy with spiky blonde hair ran over from a flower shop across the street, "We can show you, sir,"_

_The four children took the man to a house in the middle of the city. Outside the door an old man with a snowy white beard was tapping his pocketwatch irritably. He spotted Vincent immediately and called out, "You're early,"_

"_I didn't think I was expected," Vincent stated._

"_Well, you see, I can tell the future, so I knew you would come to see me," the old man explained, "Though it appears your timing is a little off,"_

"_So can I still talk to you or what?" Vincent demanded._

"_Just because you're a Heartless, young man, does not give you the right to be rude," Merlin chided._

"_He's a Heartless?" Leon, Cloud and Aeris gasped fearfully._

"_See Squall, I told you!" Yuffie giggled triumphantly._

_Vincent glared at the magician, furious that he revealed his secret, the one he was so desperate to hide. The magician seemed unconcerned with the murderous look in the Heartless man's eyes and invited him in. Before going into the house himself he spoke to the four children giving the wizard a look like he was insane, "Kids, I know what this looks like, but this man is not a normal Heartless, so please don't tell anyone. If he were bad he would have taken your hearts as soon as he saw you,"_

"_Don't worry, we won't Mr. Merlin," Cloud said seriously._

"_Hey, I won't tell, I think it's cool!" Yuffie chirped. The four children took an oath of secrecy before running back to their play._

_Merlin stepped back inside his home and closed the door and locked it. Vincent was still standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, a severe expression etched onto his face. Merlin gave the man a smile and gestured for him to sit down, "Would you like some tea? I'm afraid it won't be with any sugar, the sugar bowl has gone on strike because he doesn't like the new tea cups I bought, he finds them pretentious,"_

"_No thanks." Vincent stated. He did not sit down, "You already know why I'm here, from what it looks like. Does that mean I have to tell you what I'm here to ask?"_

"_No, you don't," Merlin replied and got down to business, "You were made a Heartless, one of the beings without hearts that has started to plague this world. But unlike other Heartless you did not lose your soul and personality, you exist as yourself, but without any feelings or emotions outside of anger, frustration and hatred. For many months since you got into this condition, you have been trying to find a way to reverse it,"_

"_Is there a way?"_

"_I believe so. Legend has it that when Heartless infest the world and the Heart of All Worlds is in danger, a Key will lock away the evil that is created," Merlin explained._

"_That's a little vague. Is that the only way?" Vincent asked insistently._

"_Ah, I see what you are getting at. No, I cannot help you get your heart back. Though I am the greatest wizard to ever live, this is not something magic can fix. There is no spell, no potion, no charm that will get you back to the way you were" Merlin informed the Heartless. If Vincent was disappointed, he didn't show it. Merlin continued speaking, "However, there are many legends I am aware of that a man can earn his heart back. If a man can show true love and compassion, caring and mercy, he can regain a heart once lost,"_

"_And how am I supposed to do that?" Vincent snarled suddenly, "I'm a Heartless! I can't feel love, I can't feel compassion! I can't feel anything. I don't have friends, I have things I hate and things I don't hate! How can a monster do anything like that?"_

"_Mr. Valentine, I understand your frustration and am sorry I can't help you more. The only one who can get your heart back is you. Either that or hope that the Key will one day be found!" Merlin explained sympathetically, "But if it's any conciliation, there must be a reason you stayed in mostly human form, you had a heart stronger than most. Besides, if anyone is capable of mercy and compassion, even as a Heartless, from what I hear it's you,"_

"_Yeah. Right."_

"_A few months ago, a little girl named Tifa Lockheart, a little friend of those children you met earlier, told me a man saved her from a nasty monster that was trying to attack her,"_

_Vincent recalled what the wizard meant, "I wasn't trying to save the girl, I just wanted to get rid of that…thing,"_

"_You're the one who wants his heart back, young man. Convince yourself you're nothing but a monster, and that's what you'll become. Convince yourself that there's hope, and one day you may get your heart back. Even if everything you do is rationalized and not something coming from emotion, you still do more good than bad. Perhaps one of those acts you convince yourself to do will be the key to unlocking your own heart,"_

Sora and the others feared the worst as they saw Vincent's body eroding away in little pieces of white light, all of them expected him to vanish like Lulu had. While the wolfman-like Heartless body was vanishing, a form inside remained. As the last of the light began to fade away with the monstrous form, a silhouette slowly pulled itself to a standing position. Sora was the first to run over. Though completely exhausted, the Keyblade Master had to make sure the man was okay, "Vincent, are you all ri—"

What Sora saw made him speechless. Worried, Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy ran over to see what had happened and all were all struck as dumb as their friend. Vincent was leaning against the tree with left arm. His formerly golden claw was a human hand, and the symbol of the Heartless that was branded onto his chest was gone, "Vincent, you're human again…"

"Yeah, I know," Vincent's voice was filled with an almost choking tone of bitter resentment.


	49. The Original Keyblade Master

Chapter Forty-eight The Original Keyblade Master

"…Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Donald were trapped having to fight the Darkside Heartless, and Sora was tricked into wasting his energy. That's when M escaped the battle and captured Matilda as she tried to escape. Vincent did his best, but in his Heartless form his actions were limited. And as everyone ran to rescue her, M absorbed Matilda into his body and disappeared," Jiminy Cricket finished his story with a sigh.

"That's terrible," King Mickey said sympathetically. The entire group had assembled in the king's library after returning to the Magic Kingdom. Goofy and Donald tried their best to stay stoic, but Kairi, Riku and Sora made no attempt to hide their sorrow. Every few minutes Kairi would rub her eyes and sniff, Riku sat sideways in his chair, feet over one of the arms, back leaning against the other and staring angrily at his own legs. Sora paid no attention to what was being said and rubbed the black and white pendant in his hand while staring blankly into space. Vincent stood in front of the window just staring out at the darkening dusk with an expression hard to read, gently holding onto Piff. Miraculously, the little pegasus somehow survived the great battle. They had found him under a bush near where Matilda had been absorbed by M. The little creature was so distraught that it had stopped flying altogether and seemed as silent as the gunner. Vincent hadn't said anything since leaving Prydain, so it was up to Jiminy to report to the king what had happened. King Mickey had been shocked when the group returned to his world. They had returned with only one ship, Yzma's ship was left on Prydain. Everyone packed into the Atlantian ship when they decided to go back to the king, with Matilda and Lulu gone there was no longer any need to travel in two Gummi Ships.

"The stars are disappearing." Vincent said suddenly, speaking for the first time since acknowledging the return of his humanity.

"What?" Donald squawked and the group ran to the window and saw the caped man had said was right. Little by little, the tiny lights that once illuminated the night's sky were fading away.

"Oh no," Riku said sadly, "That means those worlds are falling into darkness,"

"This is all my fault," Sora finally said quietly. He lowered his head in shame, he could not look at the sky anymore and face what he had done.

"Never feel guilty for things you can't control," Vincent stated softly. The man didn't look away from the point in the sky he was staring at.

"What?" Sora still shocked to hear tones of genuine emotion in Vincent's voice. For so long he was used to the rough, tactical, matter-of-fact tone the man had always used as a Heartless. To view him as a vulnerable human being was somewhat unnerving to the Keyblade Master.

"Never feel guilty for things you can't control," Vincent repeated, "It's something I said to Matilda once. It means when things go beyond your control, you can't think the consequences are your fault. Missions go bad, people die, it hurts, but you can't dwell on it,"

"But if I just—" Sora began to argue.

"We were outnumbered, under prepared and trapped. We just barely escaped the Horned King's castle when Seymour attacked us with Sin. By the time we got rid of it we lost any energy we had left. We did as best as could be expected against M. He out maneuvered us this time," Vincent said not looking away from the sky, "The question is, what are we going to do next time?"

Sora finally realized what Vincent had meant. By dwelling on his own perceived failure, he was doing nothing to save Matilda or the worlds. Sora stopped to think for a moment, "We figure out where M is now, and save Matilda,"

"How are we supposed to figure out where M is? We don't even know who he is. Or even if he is a 'he' for that matter. With that strange voice and clothes I couldn't tell if M was male or female, or what age he is," Riku pointed out.

"M…M…" King Mickey began to say. The mouse king leaned back in his chair and started to think, "I know I should know who that is…"

"Riku, you need to stop being so negative! An attitude like that is not going to get us anywhere!" Donald snapped. The duck wizard was miserable enough without having to deal with the older boy's negativity.

"I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade here, I'm just trying to be realistic!" Riku replied angrily, "This isn't the first great battle we've faced. If we go into this thinking this is some silly game people will only get hurt. I'm not just talking about the tragedies we've just had to go through. I'm talking about all of it. Since we were teenagers we've been the ones who were expected to keep everyone protected, without any consideration to what we feel about the matter or the things we lose in order to do so! I don't want any more false hope,"

"There is still hope!" Kairi screamed suddenly, "I can't think that there's not. If I did I never would have thought I'd see either you or Sora ever again!"

"M…of course!" King Mickey gasped, ignoring the fight that was threatening to erupt.

"Okay, enough!" Sora announced, "You're both right. We can't give up hope, giving up hope means giving up completely. I know we're all really upset, but Riku, I know you're not one to just sit on your haunches and wait for the Darkness to come. But he's also right about having to be realistic. So instead of attacking each other, start thinking!"

"Never feel guilty for things you can't control…" Riku repeated Vincent's personal mantra, "You're right, I'm sorry. I still have to learn to let go of my past and realize I'm not that person anymore. I still keep thinking that the Darkness is inside of me. I thought that was what stopped me from doing more to help Matilda. I blame myself just as much you blame yourself for what happened, Sora. But I'm not going to do that anymore,"

"It's okay bud. I'd be more worried if you weren't upset about this," Sora reassured his friend. He addressed the group, "Okay, to figure out where M would be, we need to find out who he is, so what do we know about him—or her, whatever,"

"He's definitely a villain. He got rid of someone who was loyal to him while joking about it," Goofy observed.

"He knew everything about Matilda. He also seemed to know a lot about Kingdom Hearts, and to know a lot about you, Sora," Kairi pointed out.

"He was also really determined to take over Kingdom Hearts, he managed to get a whole council of other villains to help him and gained power over the Heartless," Donald added.

"But all the villains we've ever faced were like that," Riku stated, "What is it we're missing?"

Sora suddenly had an epiphany, "Wait a second, I just thought of something! Remember Kuzco? It was a little over four months ago that Yzma turned him into a llama and got to power. That was the same time that Negaduck started causing problems for Darkwing. Four months ago is when the Air Pirates started blocking the pilots and Sher Khan took over Cape Suzette. Riku, Kairi, do you remember what happened over four months ago on our island?"

"I do, it was all over the news. That girl from our hometown, Marlene, just vanished," Riku observed.

"Marlene? You mean that quiet girl that was always trying to hang around us when we were kids?" Kairi gasped, "Hold on, you don't think she's M, do you? Why would she do all these terrible things, what would her interest be in Kingdom Hearts?"

"I have no idea, but it makes sense doesn't it? All these villains that were working for M got into power at the same time Marlene disappeared. I don't know what her reasons would be but it's highly suspicious that she would vanish at the same time M appeared," Sora concluded.

"Just because things happen at the same time doesn't mean they are necessarily connected," Riku reminded his friend.

"Actually, I believe Sora is on to something, but he's still missing half the story," Mickey finally addressed the group. The group stopped their discussion instantly and turned to the king.

"What do you mean, sire?" Goofy asked his friend.

"Sora, as you know, you are not the first person to wield the Keyblade, nor will you be the last. There have been many before you and there will probably be many after you," The king got up and went to one of the many shelves that filled his personal library. He climbed a few steps of a ladder and pulled an ancient looking tome from a high shelf. He sat back down and opened it, "I think it's time you heard the story of the Original Keyblade Master,"

"Original Keyblade Master?" Sora repeated in confusion. The group sat back down in their places to listen to the mouse's story.

"Yes," Mickey nodded, "The Original Keyblade Master, Mercutio," The king flipped through the book to a specific chapter and brushed his fingers down the page respectfully, "This was a story my master Yen Sid told me when he was training me. Before you, before Xenahort, before the Keyblade Wars, nearly a thousand years ago a group of powerful kings discovered the way to Kingdom Hearts. As soon as they realized the kind of power the Heart contained, they tried to use it and caused a great war. As each king fought to gain control of the Heart of All Worlds, the Heartless began invading and destroying the worlds and the people on them.

"On a small world much like the Destiny Islands a group of wizards had raised an orphaned boy named Mercutio. When the wizards learned of what was happening to the worlds outside their own, they created a powerful weapon to destroy the Heartless: the Keyblade. The wizards were old, and unable to fight for themselves, so they asked the boy they had raised to go out and save all the worlds.

"He went on a journey much like your own, Sora. He went from world to world, sealing their Keyholes and connecting them to light but as he did he met a girl on another world named Denise," King Mickey suddenly paused and turned to Sora, "You of course see the problem with that, don't you?"

"Yeah, when Kingdom Hearts is sealed, walls of light form between the worlds and you can't travel to them," Sora answered.

"Exactly," Mickey nodded and continued his story, "Mercutio deeply loved Denise. In a final battle the Keyblade Master defeated the evil kings and prepared to seal Kingdom Hearts, promising that now the worlds were saved that he would come back to her. That's when the wizards told him that by sealing the Heart of All Worlds he could never see Denise again. Mercutio was greatly torn, not sealing Kingdom Hearts meant the Heartless would continue to infest the worlds, even with the evil kings gone, on the other hand it meant never seeing the girl he loved ever again. Finally, the boy knew he had to sacrifice his happiness for the greater good, and despite what the wizards told him about what sealing Kingdom Hearts meant, Mercutio swore he'd find a way to come back to Denise,"

"So, did he ever come back to her?" Sora asked.

The king shook his head sadly, "No, he never did. He spent the rest of his life trying to find another way to Denise and died alone on his world,"

"So why do you think M is really Mercutio, your majesty?" Donald asked.

"It would make sense," Kairi observed, "To get to Kingdom Hearts you need to use the Princesses of Heart. The only way around that is if you have a Keyblade,"

"I believe Mercutio is only one part of M," Mickey explained, "I'm guessing M is actually two beings. Keyblade Master's have the unfortunate problem of always having to constantly face the Darkness. Each time there is a battle, the temptation to give in to that Darkness is always there. Mercutio's sadness at losing the girl he loved may have been enough for the Darkness to get to him. But he died centuries ago, even with the Darkness infesting his spirit, there was little he could do without a physical body. He probably found someone easily swayed to Darkness because of the same kind of sadness he lived through,"

"Okay, now I'm beginning to think that what Riku said about Marlene being a coincidence is right. What kind of darkness could she possibly have that is similar to Mercutio?" Sora got up and began to pace, questioning his own theory.

Kairi placed her face on her fists and paused to think. A few seconds later she looked up to her boyfriend in realization, "Sora, Marlene was in love with you,"

"Whoa, what?!" Sora tripped over Pluto, who had been lying on the floor, "How? We never spoke to each other,"

"You didn't have to," Kairi explained, "She was always really shy and never spoke to anyone. But she was always hanging around the three of us, no matter what we did. And I remember she was always looking at you. I bet she had a crush on you for years and never could say anything. Mercutio probably realized this and took advantage of that Darkness in her heart like Xenahort did to Riku,"

"Hey, I have no idea what you're talking about," Riku spoke louder than he intended to, his face slightly flushed.

"I believe Kairi is 100% correct," Mickey nodded, "Being that Sora is the current Keyblade Master, Mercutio probably told Marlene that if she helped him, she could find a way to Sora's heart. Unfortunately I believe Mercutio meant the way to his heart is by taking it. Though now that M has absorbed Kingdom Hearts, I have no idea what his further plans are,"

"I don't care what that freak's plans are," Vincent stated. He finally turned away from the window and stepped towards the king and the others, a determined grimace etched on his face, "All I know is he got Matilda, and we're going to get her back,"

"Well you seem in a better mood," Riku observed.

"Don't think I've gotten soft and weak just because I got my heart back. It's been a while since I've had emotions, so they sort of overwhelmed me—especially with everything that's happened. It took a little while to get used to them," Vincent announced, "The time to stand around is over. My mission isn't done. I promised Matilda I'd take her back home, and I haven't done that yet. I don't care what M's plans are, I don't care who he or she is, I don't care what it takes or what will happen. As a former Turk and a friend, I always get the job done and I always keep my promises. So let's find this creep and take him out,"

"The cavalry is here!" a bright voice chirped. From the entrance of the king's library Yuffie, Leon, Cloud, Cid, Aeris and Tifa Lockheart announced themselves with weapons in hand.

"It's about time," Vincent turned to his friends and gave them a crooked sneer.

"Vinny!" Yuffie gasped, "Y-you're-you're smiling!"

"Yeah, I am," Vincent's sardonic grin got bigger.


	50. Heart of Darkness

Chapter Forty-nine The Heart of Darkness

"Guys!" Sora said brightly, thrilled to see his friends from Hollow Bastion, "What are you doing here?"

"It's been a while since weeks since we've heard from Vincent," Cloud began, "We were worried something happened to him and that girl because the influx of Heartless in Hollow Bastion started up again. So we got in contact with Cid,"

"I wasn't entirely sure what happened to Vinny either. I haven't seen him since he am-scrayed out of Louie's from that pirate dweeb. But then I remembered seeing you, Sora and assumed you must have found my old buddy here," Cid walked up to Vincent and slapped him on the back. Vincent grimaced, getting his heart back didn't improve humor with the old pilot, "He was never very good about keeping in contact with people, our Vinny here,"

"Seriously Vinny, would it really kill you to let your friends know you're not dead in a ditch somewhere?" Yuffie chastised.

"Maybe I should think about getting a cell phone," Vincent joked, "Then again, that means you people can bother me at all hours of the day,"

"Vincent, did you just make…a joke?" Aeris asked in awe. The group from Hollow Bastion gave the caped man another strange look.

"Well, we've told you what we're doing Keyblade Master," Leon smirked, "It looks like you've got a few things to explain yourself,"

"Yeah, what happened to the little darling?" Cid asked about Matilda.

Though the questions had been intended to be friendly conversation, Sora had to look away from his friends. Immediately the mood of the room became less joyful and the Keyblade Master began to explain, "Matilda was…captured,"

"What!" the crowd replied in disbelief. Sora started from the very beginning, and when his voice faltered over the tragedies, Riku, Donald, Kairi and Goofy filled in the rest. At the end of the story the somber tone that affected the first group of warriors had spread to the warriors from Hollow Bastion. However, one fact required some further explanation.

"Vincent, is it true?" Aeris asked, "You're not a Heartless anymore?"

"Yeah, it's true," Vincent held up his left hand and pulled up his cape to show the Heartless mark was no longer on his chest.

"Are you sure?" Yuffie asked skeptically, "Your eyes are still red and pretty scary,"

"My eyes were always red!" Vincent snapped irritably.

"We're so happy for you Vincent, I mean, this is what you've always dreamed of right? Being human again?" Cloud congratulated his old friend.

"It's strange though. We've known you since we were kids, Vincent. It's going to be hard to think of you as a human now," Leon added.

Tifa sighed, "I always miss the good stuff. Well, I'm not going anywhere. If what you say is true, Sora, we've got some serious contenders on our horizon. I say we not waste time and get to it,"

Suddenly another set of people entered the library. Baloo, Kit, Launchpad, Darkwing Duck, Bonkers came in with Queen Minnie, Daisy, Chip and Dale following them. "Sorry to interrupt your kingliness," Baloo began, "But we've got some mondo problems,"

"The Heartless have invaded Magic Kingdom. They're all over the place: Duckberg, Toon Town, Cape Suzette—even Louie's," Darkwing informed the ruler, "The Justice Ducks are trying to take care of it, but they can't last for a whole lot longer,"

"Heartless in Magic Kingdom?" King Mickey stood up, "No!"

"If that's true we need to find M immediately. We can't let anymore worlds fall into Darkness," Sora stated

"We came just in time then," Cloud smiled, "If this M guy is as bad as you say, you'll need all the help you can get,"

"No, we need you guys to stay here and protect Magic Kingdom," Sora continued.

"Oh, it's not fair! We always miss the good stuff!" Yuffie pouted.

"Calm down, ninja girl, there will be plenty of action here soon. Especially if we don't leave now," Vincent stated.

"Sora's right, you guys need to stay here," Riku added, "M is far worse than any being we've ever faced before. You guys are probably some of the strongest fighters on any world, but without the strength of the Keyblades as much experience against the Darkness as we have, you won't stand a chance. We've already lost too many friends, we're not going to lose any more,"

Cloud and Leon opened their mouths to argue but Baloo and Darkwing Duck stepped forward, "We know you guys are the Keyblade Masters, but be careful. You guys don't want to lose any more friends, but neither do we,"

"Hey, we always come back in one piece!" Goofy announced.

"So where can we find M and put a stop to this?" Kairi asked King Mickey.

"On Mercutio's old world. When he was alive he was the youngest person on his world, and now a thousand years later there's no one left, it's a dead world. I'd bet my life M set up base there," the king replied.

"Then let's go," Sora said solemnly. The Keyblade Master, Riku, Kairi, Goofy, Donald, Vincent and Piff prepared for the final battle with M. They restocked supplies and packed into the Atlantian Gummi Ship. King Mickey and Queen Minnie wished them a safe voyage while Chip and Dale did some last minute repairs to increase the defenses on the Gummi Ship. The rest of Sora's friends gathered on the launchpad to wish their friends goodbye.

"Good luck," Aeris wished them.

"Don't get upset if you miss any good action while we're here kicking Heartless butt," Tifa smiled.

"And remember Keyblade Master," Squall added, "All paths within the Darkness lead to Light,"

"Thanks everyone," Sora said gratefully, "But quit acting like it's our funeral, we're going to come back. We'll see each other again,"

"I know," Squall gave off a rare grin, "But it's my job to say deep stuff like that, makes me sound cool,"

"And Vincent," Cloud addressed the caped man as he secured himself within the ship, "When you come back, please say you'll move into town. You're human now, you've run out of excuses to keep us away from you,"

"Said Mr. 'I'm not coming back until I destroy the dark side of my heart,'" Vincent rolled his eyes, "But yeah, if it means that much to you I'll move back into town. I'm sick of that garden anyway,"

"Take care of Magic Kingdom!" Riku said to Baloo and Darkwing Duck.

"If the King lets us, we'll be honored," Darkwing replied.

"Come back soon!" the rest of the goodbye party shouted as Donald started up the Ship's engine and closed the hatch. Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Riku and Piff waved a cheerful goodbye to the wonderful friends they were leaving behind and launched themselves into the blackening sky, preparing to face the Darkness.

The ship was silent as they headed towards the dead world that M lived on. There was no need to speak, everyone knew what the others were feeling. The same raw determination filled all their hearts, ready to face whatever was ahead of them to save a friend and fulfill a promise.

They knew they were getting closer to their destination, for the dark sky got darker and dozens of meteors and Heartless Ships began attacking their ship. The group was ready. Riku called out to crackshot gunner to come to the cockpit, "C'mon Vincent, we need a repeat performance of our trip to Atlantis,"

Vincent wasted no time and sat in the seat next to Donald, "If I get blasted out of the sky, I'm really going to get angry. Though it's going to be a little tricky without the same kind of weaponry from that giant Gummi,"

"Don't worry, Cid made a few last minute changes before we took off," Donald reassured the former Heartless.

"I should have known," Vincent shook his head and sighed. He turned on all the switches to the weaponry and focused on the obstacles in front of him. He had never had to face Heartless ships before, but his increasing experience in space fighting assured him this would be no harder than facing the Heartless on solid ground. Many of the Heartless ships were small and easily defeated, but the thicker the darkness got, the bigger and trickier the ships became to destroy. Vincent remembered the fight with the dragon and called out to the others within the Atlantian vessel, "Goofy, Riku, Sora, get ready to take control of the Teeny Ships!"

"Right!" the three followed the command and ran for the smaller extra ships and launched themselves outside the main ship.

"What about me, Vincent?" Kairi asked.

"You take control of the back cannons," Vincent instructed.

"Back cannons?" Kairi asked in confusion.

"If Cid upgraded this ship, there will be a second set of cannons. Any of those three or I miss, you have to take them out so they don't get us. We need this ship in as good condition as possible," Vincent explained.

"Got it!" Kairi saluted and took her position. Vincent's three pronged attack strategy worked. As Sora, Goofy and Riku zipped around the main ship in their Teenies and took out the smaller Heartless, Kairi and Vincent concentrated on the giant ships that were threatening to destroy them. With Donald's expert navigating they zipped around asteroids and meteors and dodged giant Heartless that were impossible for even Cid's weaponry to take out.

After a solid hour of fighting, the worst of the danger had passed and Sora, Riku and Goofy returned to the main ship. The darkness became impossibly thick, but no more attacks came. Soon a world appeared on the ship's radar and the group readied themselves for the battle that would soon start. The solid blackness started to thin out slightly and from the ship's windows the group could see a world on the horizon, but what they saw was nothing like they expected.

"What the heck is that thing?" Sora blurted fearfully. Everyone in the ship knew before they left Magic Kingdom that the fight with M would probably be the most difficult fight of their lives, but none of them prepared for the battle to be on a world like the one that lay before them. Sora and the others had expected a world that was dead and desolate, a desert landscape with ruins and no living plants. Instead, the world was very much alive, not as though it was covered with lush forests and cities, but like the whole world were like a giant living beast. The surface of the world was a black skin that pulsated like a heart.

"I think it's the world…" Riku stated, not entirely sure of the fact.

"If that's the world, where are we supposed to land?" Donald asked logically, "I don't trust that atmosphere—if that's what that black stuff is. If we get to close that whole thing might just swallow us up,"

"So what do we do?" Kairi asked.

"Look," Vincent pointed out. As the small planet revolved slowly a configuration that looked like a jagged palace appeared around the world's midpoint. The throbbing blackness was pouring out of the windows and openings of the bottom part of the building, but the building itself appeared to be harmless looking black stone.

"That's probably where M is," Sora figured. Donald seemed unconvinced.

"I think that's the best bet we have to land," Goofy determined, "If this world acts as alive as it looks, hovering out here trying to figure out what to do could leave us sitting ducks, no offense Donald,"

"None taken," Donald assured his friend, "But you have a point, the castle it is then,"

Donald maneuvered the ship around the third story of the castle near one of the few entrances that wasn't oozing the black substance, just above the waterfall of black whose sickening gushing sound could be heard below. The duck hovered near a ledge as one by one the group jumped out and observed their new surroundings. Donald was the last to jump out as he figured out a way to get the Gummi Ship to stay hovering in one place in case they needed to go back to it.

Sora got closer to the edge to get a better look at the black substance that continued to ooze from the bottom level windows of the intimidating castle. As the Keyblade Master bent down to further observe the black liquid, the liquid seemed the spasm and change course and it appeared to go after Sora. Sora let out as squawk as the slime lunged after him. A sudden jerk on the shoulder pulled back into safety and Sora looked up to see Vincent was the one who saved him. The man had the same kind of angry look of recognition he had often when he was still a Heartless. Sora looked back towards where he was nearly attacked and asked, "What is that stuff?"

"Heartless blood." Vincent replied simply.

"Heartless blood?" Sora repeated in shock, "You mean that goop that Heartless turn into just before they disappear?"

"Or the goop that forms just before they attack," Riku added.

"If you're telling me all this black stuff that is covering the planet is really Heartless blood," Sora began, "That means…"

"That means this whole world is just one giant Heartless," Vincent finished, "And this castle is its source,"

Donald and Goofy looked into the crumbling entrance they landed in front of in anticipation of storming the castle and saw nothing but darkness, "But Matilda is in there,"

Sora suddenly realized the ramifications of going into the castle, "That means in order to get to M and defeat him, we need to inside of a Heartless,"

Kairi looked in the same place Donald and Goofy had stared and realized the same thing Sora had thought about, "This is the most dangerous thing we've ever done. Even if we win and save Matilda, going in there means there is no guarantee we will ever get out again,"

The Keyblade Master began to think back to his journeys over the years. He was fourteen when he was first thrown into the middle of chaos and asked to save all worlds by becoming the Keyblade Master. He thought about how scared he was the first time he descended into Darkness to face Ansem and how he got past that fear because he was fighting to save his friends and Donald and Goofy where there, fighting along side him and cheering him on. Then he thought about Castle Oblivion, and though he no longer had any memory of the place, he recalled how once again his friends were willing to sacrifice for him. As he looked for Riku and a way back to Destiny Island, his friends were there too, even the friend he tried so hard to look for. His friends saved him, he saved his friends. All the journeys he had in the past, no matter how many times he faced the Darkness, he was never truly alone. Though he was going to go into a place where there was no guarantee he would survive, Sora could not feel scared, because his friends were there, and no matter what happened, he knew could never truly lose them.

"Matilda was our friend. Before we even knew her, Kingdom Hearts has done more to protect us even when it was being used for evil. We've all risked our lives for each other. It's time to do it one last time," Sora summoned his Keyblade and pointed towards the pitch black entrance, "For Matilda,"

Riku stepped up and summoned his weapon and crossed it with Sora's Keyblade. Kairi repeated it and soon Donald, Goofy and Vincent repeated the action with their own weapons, "For Matilda,"

The warriors stepped forward together and as they entered the castle the entranced closed up with blackness behind them. There was no going back now.


	51. New World Order

Chapter Fifty New World Order

The inside of the castle was dark and eerily quiet. The loudest sound was the pulse-like thump, thump, thump that got louder the deeper into the castle they got. Their boots and feet made no sound as it touched the ground and outside of bated breath no one spoke. Everyone was on high alert, waiting for something to attack them. They all had their weapons out, and the little pegasus Piff stayed hidden in Vincent's cape for safety. Donald went ahead of the group with his staff as a light, waving it back and forth to make sure no corner of the corridor that stretched ahead of them was undiscovered, allowing for an ambush. Kairi stuck close to Sora, and Sora in turn stuck close to the seasoned warrior, Vincent.

The silence was finally getting to Riku, and he felt obliged to fill the area with conversation to calm his nerves, "While I'm glad you got your heart back and everything, Vincent, but it would have been really helpful if you could still sense Heartless like before,"

"Being a Heartless wouldn't do me any good," Vincent replied. He did not look at the boy who asked him a question, his attention was exclusively devoted to his surroundings, "This whole world is a Heartless, that sensation would probably have driven me insane,"

"Oh," Riku realized. Once again everyone fell silent and continued to journey down the seemingly endless corridor.

Their long uninterrupted journey did not escape Goofy, "Hey guys, have you noticed anything strange about this here corridor?"

"Yeah, we've been walking down here for well over two hours now and we haven't run into any attacks," Riku realized.

"No, not just that," Goofy shook his head and stopped walking. The rest of the party followed suit, "From the outside the castle looked really steep with a whole bunch of levels, but while it looked big, it wasn't that big,"

"I don't follow you," Sora admitted.

"In the two hours we've walked, we haven't run into a single set of stairs. We haven't changed level at all and we haven't come across any corners. We've just been walking in a straight, perfectly level line. That smells pretty fishy to me," Goofy explained.

"You're right," Donald realized, "We've been walking in the dark so it's been hard to notice,"

"This must be some kind of trap caused by the darkness, like we were stuck in an infinite loop," Sora assumed.

"So how do we get out of it?" Kairi asked, "Without doors, stairs or corners, we could be trapped in here for the rest of our lives,"

Vincent suddenly touched the wall, "I might not be able to sense them anymore, but it doesn't mean I don't know it when I see it. Even though that door we came into wasn't oozing Heartless blood, these walls and floors are covered with it,"

Sora suddenly got an idea and struck the wall with his Keyblade, leaving a long slash in the wall. A sudden breeze came from the wall, indicating a passage on the other side, but just after the wall was cut open, the whole corridor began to buckle and writhe like a snake. Donald and Riku were knocked to the ground and Kairi fell on the wall for support, but as soon as she touch it, a giant hand emerged and grabbed her.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled as Kairi screamed in fear. The Keyblade Master yanked Riku to his feet and ran over to help his friend, but as they approached her, dozens of Heartless started oozing out of the walls. The two boys slashed and hacked at the Heartless as they tried to reach the girl. Goofy dragged Donald to his feet and joined the fray. The four battled to free Kairi from the giant hand that was threatening to pull the girl into the wall while Vincent tried to give support by shooting the Heartless as they entered the hall. The Heartless were coming in thick hordes and it was becoming harder for the warriors to move and as more Heartless came in, the further they were pushed away from Kairi. Sora was desperate, "We're getting overwhelmed!"

Vincent forced his way towards Sora, but found it difficult since he no longer had use of a clawed arm. Giving up on trying to move on the ground, the gunner leapt up and started stepping on the Heartless' heads and backs to get above the fray. With quick steps Vincent ran to Sora and the others and one by one pulled the group up until they were standing on top of the crowds of squirming creatures instead of being stuck in them. Kairi continued to struggle against the giant Heartless hand that was threatening to pull her into the wall and once again Sora and Riku rushed over to her rescue. Using a combined attack they sliced the hand to ribbons and grabbed her before she could be swallowed up by the teaming dark creatures below their feet. The old slice in the wall Sora had made previously seemed to have healed itself, so making a new incision in the wall, he shoved Kairi through first to safety as yet another mass of Heartless tried to come in after them. Vincent held the monsters back before escaping through the wall after Donald, Goofy and Riku.

Thankfully, the Heartless did not follow them to the other side of the dark wall, but the new area presented its own challenges. The dim light was slightly better than the corridor and the group could see what lay before them. The giant hall opened up into what seemed like an infinite amount of passages and staircases, resulting in a massively confusing scene right out of an Escher drawing. The view was not encouraging.

"So how do we find Matilda now?" Riku asked, "While we weren't really going anywhere in that hall, at least we couldn't get lost,"

"I have no idea. In this castle one wrong turn could end up leading to something pretty nasty. I mean, where do we even start?" Sora understood Riku's concern immediately.

While the group stopped to think of what their next more would be, Kairi noticed something about the Keyblade in Sora's right hand, "Sora, the Keyblade, it's glowing!"

Sora lifted the weapon up and saw the girl was right. The mystic weapon was now shining brightly, making the room less dark and giving a little comfort to everyone bathed in its glow, "It looks just like it did in Traverse Town,"

"I bet it's because of Matilda," Riku concluded, "It was because of her Vincent took on his full Heartless form and I bet it was her power that turned him back when the Keyblade glowed the first time,"

Sora felt an emotion tug at his heart, "Even though she's trapped inside of M she's still trying to help us,"

"Then let's not disappoint her," Vincent said with resolve.

The group soon discovered the purpose behind the Keyblade's light. When it appeared they were going down the wrong set of stairs or made a wrong turn, the light began to fade, but they assumed when the light got stronger they were going in the right direction. They were attacked a few more times by stray Heartless, but their way was largely uninterrupted until they entered a passage where the Keyblade's glow seemed the brightest. The light was almost blinding as they entered a giant hall at least thirty feet tall, every detail suddenly visible in the ancient building. It seemed this castle was once a beautiful place with figures of cherubs and angels carved into the tops of columns, but age and the viral darkness had corrupted and perverted the cracked figures, making it a mockery of its former self.

Suddenly Sora's Keyblade lost all its light throwing the team into pitch black Darkness. Donald lit up his magic staff and called out to his friends to make sure something hadn't happened to them, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're still all here," Riku called out reassuringly, "I'm holding into Sora's shoulder and Kairi's hand,"

"Actually you're grabbing onto Kairi's shoulder and holding my hand," Sora corrected his friend. Before the two could start one of their legendary arguments a strange and familiar sound came through the darkness. A stomach churning throbbing and demonic laughter filled the giant chamber. The light from Sora's Keyblade illuminated once again and they could see what was making the sound. Sora, Goofy, Donald, Kairi and Riku stood paralyzed in fear, "Oh my gosh, it's Xenahort,"

Before the group in all his horrific glory was the Heartless being that Sora first fought against in his first battle to save Kingdom Hearts. His giant body was anchored into the ground with three monstrous protrusions breathing around a central heart-like organ. From the top a human torso and head were sticking out, minuscule compared to the rest of his body. He was not like before, he was like a shadow of himself. Before the monster was brightly colored, this version of Xenahort was black and slightly translucent. While most of the group stayed stunned, unsure what to do, one of the members wasted no time in attacking.

"CURSE YOU ANSEM!" Vincent roared and ran forward, shooting the monster with his exploding charges. The man had waited many years to confront this being, the being that made him a Heartless, the one who took his life away from him, who made him lose his friends and himself. The gunner was not thinking when he attacked, he was overcome with blind rage and as he got closer to the giant Heartless he once knew, one of the Xenahort's protrusions acted like a vacuum and sucked Vincent into his body. But he did not stop there. With Vincent's war cry the battle had begun and Xenahort began sucking up Goofy, Kairi, Riku and Donald, leaving only Sora behind to once again face his enemy alone.

Though taken aback by having to face Xenahort's Heartless once again Sora quickly recovered and faced the being, "You don't scare me Xenahort. I'm not a little kid anymore, I've beaten you once and I'll beat you again. And once my friends are free and you're gone, we're going to go back to save Matilda like we planned!"

The Heartless merely laughed and proceeded with his attack. Remembering his battle from long ago, Sora easily avoided most of the monster's attacks and managed to destroy part of his central organ. Xenahort sucked Sora into his body to be again in pitch black darkness but he could sense his friends were nearby. The smaller Heartless inside the giant one made for easy kills by the Keyblade Master and soon Donald and Goofy were free to help with the fight. With one of the protrusions gone the three found the central organ once more. Again they were sucked into the Heartless body to face more small enemies. This time Vincent was freed, thrilled to destroy more of the evil creatures that ruined his life and to help defeat the main monster that was the cause of his suffering. A third time they were sucked in and the four were reunited with Kairi and Riku. With the six fighters back together they combined they powers for a final attack and the shadow of the Heartless that was Xenahort disappeared back into darkness.

"Vincent, are you okay?" Sora asked cautiously. Facing the person who made him a Heartless clearly was an emotional experience for the man. But when Vincent turned to face the Keyblade Master, he seemed strangely calm.

"I waited almost seventeen years to do that," Vincent looked up, "Now I really got my life back," he turned back to Sora and the others, "Well, what are we waiting for? Matilda still needs us,"

Sora smiled and nodded and the group headed further down the giant hall, but another Heartless was waiting for them, the Guard Armor Sora first faced when he met Donald and Goofy for the first time. Once again the group battled and defeated the Heartless, but after that more battles came: the Heartless lizard from the Deep Jungle, the Grim Reaper from Port Royale, the dragon form of Maleficent, the Nobody palace of Xemnas. Every Heartless and every villain that Sora, Riku or Vincent ever faced seemed to be coming back from the shadows to face them again.

After once again destroying the Heartless dragon they once defeated while helping their friend Mulan, the group stopped to rest and heal up. While Kairi was getting her arm looked after by Donald she turned to Sora, "I don't understand, we've faced these things before, why did all of them come back?"

"I bet it's because of M. He has control over Matilda's power so he can resurrect any monster we've ever destroyed in order to stop us. He thinks even if we can beat them he's still messing with our heads," Riku figured.

"Then he obviously doesn't know us that well, 'cause we're not quitters!" Goofy said confidently. The group nodded in agreement and continued down the corridor.

The giant hall finally ended and opened up into a giant room. The loud pulsing that had previously been background noise became a deafening racket that caused the group to clamp their hands over their ears. Far above the warriors, sitting upon a worn stone throne, was M. He sat in a strange state of lethargy, with his head hung down and his arms and legs sprawled across the crumbling throne. The seat didn't seem to be truly supporting him, instead he looked as though he were partially suspended. From the being's cloaked body tendrils of dark violet and red connected to wall and rooted their way through the rotten stone like blood vessels pulsing and throbbing, giving the being the overall appearance of some twisted marionette. The image was repulsive and Sora did his best not to lose his stomach at the sight of the being. M seemed to suddenly realize he was no longer alone. He lifted his head up and spoke, "I should have expected as much to see you again, Sora,"

"We've come to stop you, M," Sora said warningly, "Give Matilda back,"

M laughed his strange hollow voice, "You really don't understand what I've done, do you?"

"What do we have to understand? You're a villain and you've taken control of Matilda to have power over Kingdom Hearts," Riku announced.

"My young friend you are very much mistaken. It was not my intention to take over the power of Kingdom Hearts, nor am I a villain" M shifted his body, the entire room seemed to react to his movement. Sora exchanged confused looks with Riku and the others.

"Well, of course you're a villain. Because of you innocent people have gotten hurt. You've destroyed your own allies, you kidnapped one of our friends! Right now worlds are collapsing into Darkness all because you!" Sora stated matter-of-factly, "If that's not a villain I don't know what is!"

"No, you don't understand. No one truly does. Though of all people I would have thought you would Sora," M's body lifted into the air and the tendrils moved the being closer to the Keyblade Master and his friends. The six raised their weapons, "Calm down, I don't have any intention to destroy you. At least not until you understand what I am doing,"

"Why should we believe you? You destroyed Seymour without any remorse, and he was your own ally," Riku kept his weapon up and placed himself in front of Sora to protect him.

"Once again your grasps of what I have tried to do escape you. Seymour was a villain, he deserved what he got, especially after the unnecessary death of your friend Lulu. They all got what they deserved. The Horned King, the Wicked Queen, the Turks, Sher Khan, Negaduck, Yzma, they were all villains, none of them were my friends or my allies. I only pretended to ally myself with them because they would be the only ones willing to work with me, and I was willing to do whatever I needed to achieve my dream and my objective. They were easy to manipulate. But the villains' plans with Kingdom Hearts were purely selfish, mine are not," M explained, "Everything I have done was to make the worlds better, to fill them with happiness,"

"Are you trying to make yourself out to be some kind of hero? That all these terrible things are somehow good?" Vincent snarled, "You kidnapped an innocent girl and are using her. Because of your actions innocent people died. You may try to act as though you are not responsible for those actions because they were done by the villains, but you were the grand puppetmaster pulling their strings,"

"'Never feel guilty for things you cannot control.' Isn't that your personal mantra, Vincent Valentine? I admit many of the things I have done or have allowed to happen would not be looked down upon as things to be proud of, but all and all what I have done was for the greater good," M tried to explain. His calm remorseless tone caused the six warriors' blood to boil, "Besides, you keep demanding I release the human form of Kingdom Hearts, but I am afraid that is quite impossible, as she no longer exists,"

"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked fearfully. Donald and Goofy stepped on either side of her, more prepared to attack then ever before.

"You all have assumed that I kidnapped Kingdom Hearts in order to use her power. That is not true, I did not kidnap Kingdom Hearts, I absorbed her. I did not take over her power, I have become her," M explained, his connecting tendrils pulled him high above the warriors once again and the deafening sound that resembled a heartbeat got even louder, causing the very room to shake, "I am now Kingdom Hearts,"

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Sora screamed.

"Sora, you of all people should see how I have made things better," M's hollow tone for the first time seemed to have a hint of genuine emotion, "As the Keyblade Master you've fought to save Kingdom Hearts time after time after time. Each time you make new friends, you have to lose them again, trapped on your own world because of the rules of sealing Kingdom Hearts. Those rules are gone Sora, by becoming Kingdom Hearts I make the rules. Never again will you have to be separated by the walls of light. You'll never have to say goodbye to Goofy or Donald again. Never will you ever have to worry that Riku or Kairi will be separated from you. You could visit Twilight Town any time you pleased. You'd get to see Pence and Hayner and Olette whenever you like. You and Aladdin could face off against Mulan and Hercules in Olympus Coliseum just for laughs! I've set you free Sora! Don't you see it?"

For a moment, Sora did see M's point. The only time he got to be with Goofy and Donald was when he was out to save the worlds. He always felt the littlest bit guilty when he would look in the skies, because he would almost hope the worlds were in danger, so he could be with his friends again. The Keyblade Master looked back and looked every one of his friends in the eye: Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Vincent, but then he looked to Riku and realized M was wrong. Riku was looking up at M, an angry look in his face. The silver haired boy asked the being one question, "But what about the Heartless?"

"What about them?" M replied. In the shadowy corners of the room the group could detect the movement of some small Heartless wandering around.

"When Kingdom Hearts is unsealed, Heartless from the Dark Realm invade the worlds through their hearts. If Kingdom Hearts is never sealed again, that means there won't be any way to stop the Heartless and they'll continue to steal people's hearts and destroy worlds. Worlds are already being destroyed," Kairi explained.

"M, I love my friends more than anything, and would want to be with them all the time. But I also want them to be safe. With the Heartless free everyone will constantly be in danger. I rather not see them ever again if it meant knowing they'll always be okay!" Once again, Sora's Keyblade lit up, "And I know you're wrong M, Matilda is not gone yet. Knowing that I want her safe, too!"

M's body began to twitch and warp and the vessel-like threads that came from his body began to pump and change color slightly. The floor almost instantly became covered with thick black Heartless blood, "As long as you weren't in my way I had no reason to cause you six any harm. But if you insist on this futile battle I will be forced to destroy you," The Heartless blood began to boil and ooze and the giant Heartless that Sora and the others fought against earlier had returned: Anima, Yzma's stone warriors, the laser shooting Heartless from Sher Khan's tower and Sin, the Heartless that was the cause of Lulu's murder. Even M's body transformed slightly, and looked more monstrous than before, "I will do anything I have to, to see my dream come true,"


	52. Journey into Darkness

Chapter Fifty-one Journey into Darkness

With that final remark the battle began. The Heartless launched themselves at the warriors but Sora and the others were well prepared. They held off the first wave of attack without injury, but it was clear the Heartless the group had fought before had come back much stronger. Next came the second wave. The group did their best to hold it off, but the simultaneous attacks was proving too much. Anima's attack shook the ground, causing the fighters difficulty in keeping their balance while the Stone Warriors threw them around and slammed them into the walls. The laser elephant's red beams burned their skins while Sin Scale Heartless overwhelmed the group. It was clear the battle would not turn in their favor with the way things were going. Vincent, the seasoned veteran who had been fighting longer than Sora, Riku or Kairi had been alive, took charge like a general in battle, "We're not going to survive if we keep playing defense. Riku, Sora, Goofy take out the Stone Warriors first, they seem mostly immune to magic. Kairi, you take care of the Sin Scales while Donald, it will be your job to keep everyone healed and protected. I'm going after Anima first,"

"Right!" the warriors followed the former Heartless' command. Riku and Sora combined the power of their weapons to hack and slash at the Stone Warriors. Their Keyblades only left small cracks and score lines in the stones but when Goofy threw his shield the cracks spread violently and pieces shattered off of the monsters. The two best friends repeated their attack and Goofy finished the job. Though the attacks were difficult and arduous, eventually the Stone Warriors crumbled into rubble as they did in Kuzcotopia. With the first set of Heartless gone, Riku, Sora and Goofy went to help Kairi fight the Sin Scales.

The young lady did her best to keep the attacks of the small vicious monsters back, and though she kept them from spreading, she could not reduce their numbers. Sora went on one side of her and Riku on the other with Goofy holding up the rear. Kairi was grateful for the support. With the four friends working together the Sin Scales' numbers slowly began to decline. As the warriors focused on their task and Donald did his best to keep the laser elephant's beams from hitting them, Vincent focused on destroying Anima.

Anima proved to be significantly stronger than before, and the gunner was having a hard time against it. He altered between ice and fire shots and when Anima looked weakest Vincent tried to use his exploding charges. The Heartless was getting weakened, but it was clear he wasn't getting weakened enough. The fighter misjudged one of the chained monster's attacks and got a full blow to his body. As he was sent flying backwards he felt someone catch him. Goofy and Riku had saved the man from flying into a wall. Vincent told his friends, "I thought I told you to take care of the Sin Scales and Stone Warriors,"

"The Warriors are gone and the Sin Scales aren't that important," Riku sneered, "We know you've been a fighter a while, Vincent. That still doesn't mean you know everything,"

"Besides, it'll be much easier to beat Anima if you've got more people to help you," Goofy added. Vincent grimaced, got back up and he, Goofy and Riku got back into the fight with Sora and Kairi. Anima's one weakness proved to be the same one as he had in Olympus Coliseum. When part of his body was ripped away, like the Hydra had done, Anima could not heal itself. Vincent's exploding charges helped blow away bit of its body, but his shots were not enough to completely destroy the zombie-like Heartless. Sora, Kairi and Riku's weapons sliced and tore away at the chained monster and soon its little pieces flittered back down into the black blood that coated the floor.

The group ran over to Donald who looked about to the point of exhaustion and as Goofy and Sora got near, the duck magician dropped to the floor, "What's taking you guys so long! I'm pooped!"

"Sorry Donald," Sora laughed as he gave his friend some potion and an ether to restore Donald's powers, "But look on the bright side, two down, two to go,"

The moment of rest ended and the six next targeted the laser elephant. Though Sin began attacking their flank with lasers of its own, the group knew they had to take the Heartless one at a time if they were going to be defeated. Riku, Kairi and Vincent took their turns protecting the others while Sora, Goofy and Donald focused on the elephant. Goofy threw his shield on the ground upside-down like a sled and grabbed Sora and Donald. The three jumped on the shield and slid beneath the elephant Heartless' body. The monster did its best to stomp on them but as Goofy navigated the shield Sora lifted up his Keyblade and sliced the underbelly. Donald finished off the attack with a thunder spell. The three kept repeating the action until the laser elephant trumpeted one last time and vanished.

Only Sin remained now and with their previous battle with the Heartless painfully fresh in their mind, they knew exactly how to destroy it quickly. Donald and Goofy concentrated on Sin's rear while Vincent jumped up and attacked its back. Every time the others knocked Sin down, Kairi, Riku and Sora used their Keyblades to do the most damage. Soon Sin collapsed back into the Heartless blood, sending waves of blackness like the water it had in the lake before.

The room suddenly became very quiet. The warriors were trying to catch their breath and gather what little strength they had left. All the Heartless were gone and M stayed suspended above the group with his strange tendrils, saying nothing, not moving, emotions unknown with his hidden face. Sora smiled, figuring the being realized his defeat, but the boy's grin soon faded when suddenly the entire room shook again. The Heartless blood bubbled and oozed and mounds of black liquid took shape: Anima, the Elephant, Sin, and the Stone Warriors reappeared, looking as just as dangerous and powerful as they had previously. Only this time the warriors didn't have the same energy as they had before. The four sets of giant monsters lunged at the fighters, and the group barely dodged a lethal attack. They knew if this battle would not end quickly, the six would be done for. Riku dragged Sora and Goofy out of the way of the elephant's lasers and called out to his friends, "Even if we destroy the Heartless again, M will just revive them, we need a way to stop him,"

Sora could feel his exhaustion taking a toll on him, but even as tired as he was he managed to observe something, it seemed as though every time one of the Heartless made a move, M seemed to be experiencing some type of pain. The Keyblade Master looked to the tendrils that connected the dark being to the wall and saw they pulsed and pumped sickly with every flinch the person made. Sora pulled away from his best friend's grip and snatched Kairi towards him to hand her to Riku, "The Heartless are being animated by M, if I cut those things coming from his body, that should stop him. Watch over the others, I'm going after him,"

Before Riku could argue Sora summoned the last of his energy and ran after M. Vincent and Donald seemed to realize the young man's plan and kept his route clear as he ran for the stone throne just ahead of him. Using the momentum of his Keyblade and a lingering bit of his magic power, Sora launched himself from the stone throne to the wall and sliced the first tendril. M suddenly realized what the Keyblade Master was doing, but was too late to do anything to stop him. One by one, Sora would push himself against the wall, jump, cut a tendril, land back on the wall and repeat the process. As the final tendril was severed, the monstrous Heartless that were threatening to gain the upper hand against Sora's five friends froze, melted into darkness and collapsed to the floor. For a moment M's body hovered as the final tendril connecting the being to the Heartless world fell away from his body, then the being seemed to go limp and began to hurdle towards the ground. Sora wasn't sure what made him do it, but a little instinct told the boy to go after the falling figure and catch it before it hit the floor below. The Keyblade Master leapt down to the ground and ran to catch M's falling body, as he caught the being, the hooded cloak that had been covering M's face fell off, revealing the face of a young girl about Sora's age. She had dark brown hair was sickly pale and breathing heavily. Slowly, the girl opened her watery eyes to reveal familiar brown eyes.

"Marlene," Sora said sadly. The spirit that had been using the girl had clearly drained her of much of her strength and will to live.

"Why couldn't you have picked me, Sora?" she said softly before passing out again. Though Marlene had not been a close friend of his, he could not help feeling angry and guilty that his involvement in her life somehow resulted in her getting so hurt. But with M seemingly defeated, the Keyblade master made a sigh of relief and looked to his haggard, but equally relieved friends.

"Well, well, well," a somewhat familiar male's voice boomed and filled the room, "You think that the hero won, Keyblade Master? That good triumphed over evil? M may be gone, but it is no longer needed. Even without that unfortunate girl's body, I am still here. Now that I am Kingdom Hearts, I can finally have a body of my own again,"

The six fighters looked up to see the long hard battle was no where close to over. The fallen purple and dark red tendrils that had formerly connected Marlene's body to the walls rose up and began to weave together and form a new body. The vessel like strings melted together and changed color until a human figure stood high above the fighters. A young man with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail and bright green eyes wore an ancient looking outfit with long black boots, vest and puffy shirt and slowly began to sink down to Sora and the others below him. It was the other half of the being that had made up M: Mercutio, the original Keyblade Master.

"Mercutio…" Sora said softly, not sure of what to make of the new challenge.

"Since you know so much about me Sora, why do you insist this futile battle?" Mercutio said bitterly, "You did not win over evil, oh protégé of mine, for evil does not exist here. For good to truly win I must see my dream come true. You are nothing more than a blind, stupid little boy playing 'adventure' with your friends. As long as you continue to interfere with my dream you are a danger to us all. You may have survived this long but I will destroy you. Darkness is just the way things are meant to be…"

For a third time the great hall began to buckle and shake and the black liquid covering the floor began to rise in level. It no longer covered just the floor, it began crawling up the walls and coating the ceiling, shrouding the gray stone in blackness

"Kairi, Donald, Goofy, take care of Marlene and get out of here!" The Keyblade Master ran over and handed the body of the injured girl to his friends as a wall of liquid separated Sora from the three.

"Sora!" Riku cried out as the black Heartless blood from the walls and ceiling above shuddered and crashed down like a tidal wave.

"Oh no, he's trapped, we have to do something!" Kairi cried out in fear.

"No," Vincent said calmly, "You need to keep that girl safe. She was just a pawn, she's innocent in all this. Get out of here, we'll help the Keyblade Master,"

Kairi paused, not wanting to leave the boy she cared so much about behind, but knowing better, Donald and Goofy grabbed the girl by the arms and ran out the great hall before the Darkness could spread further. Vincent and Riku looked at each other and nodded before charging towards the colossal blackness where their friend was trapped. With their weapons drawn they hacked and tore at the darkness until a small opening was formed. They forced their way in and ahead they could see Sora tangled in strands of gelatinous Heartless blood, including one wrapped dangerously around his neck. The two warriors ran to their friend and cut him free. Sora gasped for air and rubbed his throat, relieved he wasn't suffocated, "Boy, am I glad to see you two,"

The inside of chamber of Heartless blood mutated and widened so it became like a large cave and a figure materialized before the three. Mercutio came before them on their level, revealing that he and Sora were just about the same height. When he was only a few feet away, the ancient being summoned two Keyblades. One looked like an old rusted key, one used by gatekeepers in the Middle Ages, the other resembled the skeleton of a bird, with its skull as the blade of the key and the ribcage and wings as the handle. Mercutio took a battle stance, ready to fight.

Sora responded by gathering the small bit of energy that still remained in him, the small drive that told him to keep going, that the battle wasn't won yet, that the villain still stood standing and Matilda was still trapped. The brown haired boy's body glowed and a second Keyblade appeared in his hand, his clothing turned black and white and he was almost levitating. Sora was now in his most powerful form: Final Mode.

The boy charged Mercutio, but the older Keyblade Master countered the attack. Keyblades smashed against Keyblades, neither's attacks striking a blow. Sora tried a magic spell, but the ancient being dodged it and countered with his own spell, this one hitting its mark and sending the new Keyblade Master backwards. Riku and Vincent caught the boy and threw him back into the fight, charging after him to help with the battle. Sora let loose a flurry of attacks, but ones Mercurtio knew and could defend against. Sora kept the blond boy on defensive and Vincent and Riku joined in the attack. From behind Riku used his own set of Keyblade attacks, eventually joining in with Sora for a combination move. Vincent's riffle attacks battered the original Keyblade Master, clearly weakening him. Though weak, Mercutio also seemed greatly irritated, "This is getting quite tiresome,"

Without warning the black chamber changed again and two waves of darkness lunged out of the walls and grabbed Riku and Vincent. The men fought viciously against their confines but it proved useless as they vanished in the walls with fate unknown.

"Riku! Vincent!" Sora screamed. Forgetting the battle before him, the boy ran away from Mercutio and started using his weapons to hack and slice at the walls, trying to free his friends and hoping nothing bad had happened to them. As the Keyblade Master fought to cut through the walls, something hit him in the head and knocked him to the ground.

Mercutio had thrown one of his Keyblades like a boomerang and from the corner of his eye Sora could see the other boy smile as the weapon came back to his hands, "I'm afraid your friends can't help you with this Sora. It looks like you're going to have to face me on your own,"


	53. Key to the Kingdom

Chapter Fifty-two Key to the Kingdom

Sora struggled to get back to his feet before Mercutio could come over and finish him off. He grabbed for his Keyblades, finding one, but as he groped for the other he could not locate it. It was just then Sora realized Final Mode had run up, and with only one weapon against the other Keyblade Master's two, his time would soon run out too.

"I don't want to have to do this Sora. I'm not a murderer or a villain. I was once a hero just like you, I still want to be a hero and save the worlds from their loneliness," Mercutio called out as he approached the other boy, "You still have a shot at survival, as do your friends. All you have to do is finally listen to what I have to say,"

"How can you stand there and call yourself a hero? You've done nothing but hurt people. You've hurt me, my friends, even innocent people who have nothing to do with this like Marlene. Kingdom Hearts is unsealed because of you. The Darkness and the Heartless will keep spreading and even more people will get hurt!" Sora leaned on his Keyblade for support and tried to step towards Mercutio. The other Keyblade Master rushed forward and knocked Sora back down.

"Marlene made her own decisions, I did not take advantage of her. Her heart was lonely because you ignored her. When I told her what I wanted to do, that I wanted to end loneliness forever she willingly helped me. She is not as 'innocent' as you would like to believe," Mercutio hissed. The blond boy leaned over Sora with his weapons held threateningly, "And neither is Kingdom Hearts,"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked. With the ancient being so close, the boy knew he was in great danger. As Mercutio stood over him, Sora tried to reach for his Keyblade again. The blond realized what the Keyblade Master was trying to do and with one foot kicked the blade away and with the other kicked Sora in the ribs.

"Face it, the way Kingdom Hearts was, was evil. Its own rules insisted on keeping away from your friends. To not 'meddle' in the affairs of other worlds, even if you can make things better. Time and time again Darkness comes out and you have to reseal Kingdom Hearts. Generation after generation of Keyblade Masters have been summoned to do the same futile task. Yet each time another villain or set of villains comes and unseals it, making the sacrifices you make be in vain.

"I have watched for a thousand years as pitiful, hopeful fools such as yourself willingly sacrifice everything they hold dear in order to keep Kingdom Hearts sealed, only to fail because the next being comes along and undoes everything they did. It takes so much heartache to keep Kingdom Hearts closed, yet it is so easy to make it open. That can only mean one thing Sora, one thing and one thing alone. Kingdom Hearts was never meant to be sealed, it was always meant to be open, you were always meant to travel to other worlds. And that is what I have done for you, done for all of us. Never again will another Keyblade Wielder's story end in tragedy. Kingdom Hearts is unsealed, the rules have been changed, the worlds have been saved from their own misery!"

"That can't be true…" Sora refused to believe that Mercutio's insane ambitions had merit, "Kingdom Hearts being sealed keeps the Darkness away, it's the Darkness that's evil, not Kingdom Hearts,"

"You speak of Darkness, Sora. Darkness is not evil, not any more than Light or Nothingness, it is an inevitability. All Keyblade Wielders eventually give into the Darkness. As much as you try to deny it Sora, you will one day have your heart consumed with Darkness, it is supposed to. Heartless may cause pain, but they are our own creation, something we must learn to live with. And their pain is nowhere near as horrible as the aching loneliness that fills all hearts. Darkness must become an accepted part of life, just like death," as Mercutio spoke the living blackness of the cavern began to warp again and a belt of darkness came out of the floor. It began to wrap around Sora's body and swallow the young Keyblade Master. Sora was too tired to fight against it and the darkness began to wrap around his face and mouth. As the last of the blackness consumed the young man within its clutches, he could hear the original Keyblade Master say, "Darkness is just the way things were meant to be…"

'May he's right,' Sora began to think to himself, 'Maybe this is the way things were meant to be. After all, wasn't it my dream to be able to see all my friends whenever I want?' The Darkness began pulling Sora deeper and deeper within itself, and he could feel himself begin to slip away. 'I was so sad when I lost Kairi and Riku, and then when I had to say goodbye to Donald and Goofy. I'd always sit on the shores of Destiny Island, always waiting for a note from the King to tell me I was needed again. I hated the feeling of being away from those I cared about, to be so alone…'

Sora could feel himself losing more and more of who he was, and he felt strangely at peace with it. Just as he felt the remaining pieces of his heart and soul go away, he could hear a voice crying out from the darkness. _No! I won't lose my heart again! I won't become a monster, not when I just got my life back!_

'Vincent?' Sora recognized the voice.

_I won't go back to being that numb, I won't sit back indifferently when things happen in my life. I told myself even if it meant that I'd feel nothing but sadness again I'd be a happy man. I mean that. I won't let go of my Heart! _Sora opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He couldn't see the long-suffering gunner, but he could feel his presence. Vincent was still alive and still had his heart.

Sora began to hear a second voice too. _I have to help Sora, he needs me. I won't let him down again. I won't let the Darkness separate me from my best friend again. I won't!_

'That's Riku's voice…I'm not alone,' Sora could feel his senses coming back. In the pitch black Darkness that surrounded him Sora began to realize what had happened to him and saw the truth, 'This isn't the way things are supposed to be! Darkness being free may have let me visit other worlds, but it was what kept me away from Riku and Kairi in the first place. Darkness has ruined lives, taken them. The real Ansem, Axel, Lulu, they are all gone because villains had used Kingdom Hearts for Darkness. Kingdom Hearts is the Heart of All Worlds. The emotions of all living things are reflected in that one Heart. As long as Darkness was let free, it would only mean more negative emotions and more Heartless, which would bring on even more negative emotions in an endless spiral,'

Sora began to hear a heartbeat. He wasn't sure if it was the sound of his own heart in the empty silence around him, or if it were coming from somewhere else, but with each pulse he could feel himself getting stronger, 'But that doesn't have to be that way, Hearts are filled with all kinds of good emotions too: friendship, happiness and love. Kingdom Hearts doesn't exist in the realm of Darkness, but between it and the realm of Light. Kingdom Hearts is neither good nor evil, it is what we make of it. It becomes whatever our Hearts want to be. And just like Leon said: All paths within the Darkness lead to Light!" The Keyblade Wielder began to understand where the sound was coming from, his pocket. The boy reached in and pulled out the black and white pendant Matilda had left behind in Prydain, it was now glowing brightly and warmly. The Keyblade Mercutio kicked away before Sora had been pulled into the Heartless walls reappeared and was glowing just as brightly as the pendant. As Sora took hold of the weapon, he could feel the light spread inside him, "Kingdom Hearts is LIGHT!"

"What!" Mercutio gasped as the wall of Darkness that had trapped the younger Keyblade Master cracked open and released a brilliant light. Sora stepped out of his confines with his body completely glowing. His clothing had changed to shining gold and silver. A second Keyblade appeared in his hand, a gleaming metal key with delicate tapers and fine filigree. His other Keyblade had changed form and looked like a folded up angel's wing with black feathers. Around his neck was a black and white pendant. The glowing Keyblade Master stepped decisively towards his enemy, his Keyblades ready for an attack. Mercutio for the first time seemed genuinely afraid and though he held up his blades, he could not hide his shaking.

"You're wrong Mercutio. You're wrong about everything. The Darkness doesn't unit us, it divides us, it doesn't end loneliness, it causes it. When Riku and Vincent were trapped within the Darkness, they were miserable. Darkness may allow the worlds to be open to each other, but it isolates our Hearts. Though the walls of light that are created when Kingdom Hearts is sealed separate the worlds we are never truly alone. I may not get to see my friends Leon or Cloud or Hayner or Aladdin all the time, but they are always with me, because our Hearts are united!" Sora rushed forward and knocked Mercutio down before rushing further towards the opposite wall of darkness and jumped up. He plunged his two Keyblades into the wall and slid down, causing two cuts. From these two cuts Vincent and Riku fell out and collapsed on the ground. Though knocked out, they were otherwise unharmed, "And right now all my friends are with me, just like they always were. Vincent, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, the King, the friends from all the worlds I've visited. The friends I've lost in battle and the friends I'll make one day. They are all here with me, and all of us are going to beat you!"

"I've saved the worlds! Kingdom Hearts being unsealed is the way things are meant to be! Darkness is the way things are meant to be! If they weren't why is it so hard to protect it?" Mercutio screamed out, his rhetoric unchanged as he leapt up and charged Sora.

"Just because something is easy doesn't mean it's right," Sora easily countered Mercutio attack, knocking the other being back to the ground, "I know that other Keyblade Masters have suffered, and I've suffered too. But it's that suffering that reminds us of what we truly love. Our job as Keyblade Masters is to protect: protect the worlds, protect Kingdom Hearts and protect those we care about. The ones who fell into Darkness lost sight of that and stopped caring, but I never will. Every success I obtain makes me want to succeed more, every failure makes me want to work harder. I know I wasn't the first Keyblade Master, and I know I won't be the last but I'll keep protecting with every last bit of my Heart. And I'll keep fighting villains like you who threaten Kingdom Hearts!"

Sora lunged forward at Mercutio and the battle once again began. Their Keyblades sparked each time they hit each other and the two Keyblade Masters used their force to try to move each other's bodies. As Sora and Mercutio dueled, the brown haired boy realized something. Unlike the other modes he had used that had taken his strength over time, the longer this mode created by Matilda's pendant lasted, the stronger Sora felt. Mercutio's blows seemed to have no effect on him. Even the ones the younger Keyblade was unable to dodge didn't seem to harm him that much. As Mercutio got weaker, Sora got stronger, as the blond slowed down, the blue-eyed brunette got faster. Their fight continued with Sora gaining the edge. He blocked, dodged and countered every attack, letting loose fury after fury of combination attacks Mercutio was clearly unfamiliar with.

With a fast swipe one of Mercutio's Keyblades was knocked out of his hand and it skidded across the floor. The ancient being glanced fearfully as he lost his weapon but his fear quickly turned to anger, and with his only weapon charged one final time at Sora. Sora did not flinch as Mercutio ran towards him. He merely held up the shining silver Keyblade and thrust it forward, catching the blond squarely through the chest. Mercutio froze and looked down at the weapon that had run him through and turned pale. As his body began to turn translucent he cried softly, "My dream…"

"This wasn't what Denise would have wanted," Sora said sympathetically, "You spent your whole life trying to find a way back to her and you lost sight of the fact she never left you. She was in your Heart the whole time. Go to her Mercutio, it's time you stopped being alone,"


	54. Someday

Chapter Fifty-three Someday

Mercutio's lips twitched into a smile and a single tear rolled down his cheek before his body and spirit faded. Sora pulled back the Keyblade from where Mercutio once stood and saw that the other Keyblade had disappeared. The glow from his body faded away, his clothes went back to normal and the pendant from around his neck vanished.

"Sora!" a voice cried out. The boy turned around to see the cavern of Darkness was fading away and from the door to the hall Kairi came running in with Marlene slumped on her back and Goofy and Donald close behind. The boy and the girl ran to give each other a relieved hug. Being so close to Kairi Sora could see that Marlene no longer was knocked out, but was having some well-deserved sleep.

"Is it over?" Riku mumbled as he got up off the floor. He rubbed his temples while Vincent clutched at his chest to make sure his heart was still there.

"Yep, 'fraid you missed all the action!" Sora said cheerfully. Sora's cheer momentarily disappeared when a glowing light where Mercutio met his defeat appeared. The six friends froze fearing a new attack. Instead, a teenage girl with black and white hair in a pink dress materialized before them.

"Matilda!" Goofy and Donald ran over to the strange looking girl and tried to support her but she gently held them back, showing she did not need their help. A happy whiny erupted deep from within Vincent's cape and Piff shot out and flew to Matilda. The girl caught the ecstatic little animal and hugged it close.

"Are you all right?" Sora called out. He, Kairi, Riku and Vincent walked over to her. Matilda looked over to her friends, and though the innocent naïveté was clearly gone forever her bright cheerful smile, the smile that seemed to take so much delight in everything, had returned.

"Sora, everyone. Thank you, for everything," Matilda choked, trying to hold her self back from crying, "Don't worry Vincent, no more tears,"

"I guess we kept each other's promise," Vincent said gruffly, he was trying to mask his relief that the girl he had grown attached to was okay, "You got back your memories, I got back my Heart. Just like we wanted,"

"I could never begin to express my gratitude to you Vincent. You risked your life time and time again and sacrificed so much of yourself just to help me," Matilda then turned her gaze away from the red-eyed gunner, "But I'm afraid it wasn't me who helped get your heart back. In fact, I might have even prevented you from getting it back sooner,"

"I don't understand," Vincent said bluntly.

"When you were still a Heartless, you were more affected by the power of Kingdom Hearts than anyone, just like all Heartless are. That's why I always felt so cold to you, you could feel and absorb my power more than anyone else could. And it's because of that power you became a monster those two times, Traverse Town and Prydain. When I was overwhelmed with emotion, my powers were let loose, as emotions are what power the Heart. That energy made you a stronger Heartless and you lost your form. I am so sorry Vincent, if I had any way of not allowing that to happen I would have done so. I just hope you can forgive me," Matilda bowed her head in shame.

Vincent's emotions were hard to read, "So how did I get my Heart back?"

"You did that on your own," Matilda finally dared to look Vincent in the eye again, "You had a strong heart, it was that strength that allowed you to keep your mostly human form as a Heartless. Unfortunately, though you held onto your true form because of the strength of your heart it was only possible because of your anger and hate, the only set of emotions you had left. That anger was your power, that anger gave you a shred of humanity. Then Lulu was destroyed.

"She sacrificed herself to keep us protected and when she faded away you could not express grief over her passing. The woman who had been your friend, your partner in battle, the woman who reminded you of what a normal life was like, who said she loved you even though it was impossible to love her in return. Of course you were angry over her death, and angry at the man who killed her, but primarily you were angry that you could not become upset over her loss. That shred of anger, as strange as it sounds, was your act of compassion. You always wanted your heart back because you wanted to feel, but you wanted your heart back at that moment to show that Lulu was cared for. Grief, as horrible as it feels, means that someone cares, and everyone wishes to be cared for," Matilda gave a small sad smile.

"But Vincent didn't turned human after that, he turned into his monster form," Riku pointed out.

"Yes, and as I said before, that was my fault. I was sad over losing Lulu too, she was so kind to me, like a mother. My sadness made Vincent a monster, but the process of getting his heart back had already begun. His indirect way of caring for Lulu opened the gates to becoming human. They were his own feelings of worrying and friendship, even in his form as a monster, that drove him to fight the other Heartless and try to save me, to try to protect you and Sora and the others. It wasn't hate anymore that was causing him to fight, it was love," Matilda cheered up again. Vincent was seemed almost embarrassed as the younger people gave the man a look of awe.

Just then the hall began to shudder again and blocks from the ceiling began to fall. Sora shoved Kairi out of the way of one of them, "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine, and I think Marlene is too," Kairi stuttered in surprise.

"This place is beginning to fall apart," Riku remarked as he used his blade to slice through a rock that nearly hit Donald and Goofy.

"Hurry! You have to seal me away!" Matilda announced fearfully.

"What?" Sora responded.

"This is a dead world, it will soon collapse in on itself and become a black hole. Once it does the other worlds will really be in danger. The only way to make sure the other worlds can't get hurt is to put the walls of light back up and seal Kingdom Hearts away!" Matilda urged.

Sora had almost forgotten that the being who stood before him, that looked like a teenage girl, was really The Heart of All Worlds and not a real person, "But what will happen to you?"

"I will become my real form again and go back behind the doors between Light and Darkness," Matilda explained. Just then the wall behind the old stone throne completely collapsed, showing the black Heartless blood that had flowed across the surface of the world was now compressing and disappearing, "Sora, you have to hurry!"

"Will we ever see you again?" Kairi asked, fearing the answer. Matilda looked away from her friends. The entire room suddenly fell silent waiting for the reality they did not want to hear.

"No. I only became human to stop Mercutio, this form will no longer be needed once I am sealed away. Even if you ever come back to Kingdom Hearts, you will never see me again," The girl let go of Piff and urged the small pegasus to flutter back over to Vincent. More of the castle collapsed around them. Matilda finally looked up and smiled, locking eyes with each other warriors she had grown to care about so much, "But while you'll never see me again I'll always be with you. As long as you are friends with each other and keep spreading the Light, I will always be there,"

Matilda pulled down part of her pink dress to expose the Keyhole Mark that existed in the center of her chest. She locked eyes with Sora, continuing to smile and waited for him. The Keyblade Master was reluctant, but as he looked to his friends he knew what he had to do. He closed his eyes and held the Keyblade in front of him. A burst of light sprang from the tip of his weapon and hit Matilda squarely in the chest. The beam of light spread into a bubble, encasing the six warriors within its protective shell as the pieces of the world around them crumbled and vanished. A pair of silver doors appeared behind the white and black haired girl and slowly swung open. Her pale body began to glow warmly and evaporate into shining gold glitter that gently flowed into the doors, as though they were being moved by a soft wind. Sora slowly opened his eyes to see what he had done, unable to stop the tears from falling from his eyes. But they soon stopped when he saw the joyful expression Matilda had on her face. As she slowly broke apart the Keyblade Master called out to her, "Matilda before you go, could you please answer me one question? Why do the worlds have to be separated by the walls of Light?"

"The walls of light keep away the Darkness and keep everyone protected. I wish more than anyone that they did not have to exist. The Heart of all Worlds is a reflection of the Heart of all living things. All the negative emotions that people feel: anger, jealously, hate come out of Kingdom Hearts as Heartless and those walls exist to stop them. Maybe someday people won't have those emotions anymore and the Heartless won't have any reason to exist. Then the walls can disappear forever," Matilda explained as her chest and arms vanished. As she was nearly completely gone she turned one last time to the man who rescued her the first time, "Vincent, I know you've done enough for me already but can I ask you one more thing?"

Vincent said nothing, but did not indicate he wouldn't.

"Please take care of Piff," Matilda asked as her neck and face began to disappear and flow into the silver doors of Kingdom Hearts.

"Of course," Vincent nodded bluntly and with his sardonic smile added, "Oh, and Matilda, I don't hate you,"

"Goodbye," Matilda smiled a final innocent grin and faded into the doors forever. As the doors shut as slowly as they opened they faded away and all the warriors' bodies began to glow.

"Hey, what's going on?" Sora blurted in surprise.

"After all the times we've done this you still don't remember how this works," Riku teased, "Matilda—I mean, Kingdom Hearts is sending us back to our own worlds,"

Donald and Goofy began waving ecstatically, "Goodbye Sora, goodbye Riku, goodbye Kairi. We'll see each other again! Mercutio's not going to be the last goofball we have to deal with,"

"Goodbye guys, say hello to the King and the others for me!" Sora waved as his two friends vanished in a flash.

"Good Luck Keyblade Master," Vincent said matter-of-factly, "I know we'll see each other again someday,"

"Yeah, someday," Sora stood and gave his newest hero a heartfelt salute that Kairi and Riku copied. Vincent saluted back, took a step and vanished in a blaze of light. As the Keyblade Master and his friends watched the last bits of Mercutio's dead world crumble away into nothingness, Sora turned to them and said, "It's time we go home,"


	55. Epilog

Epilog

Life went back to normal on Alto and the Destiny Islands. School was still in session and Dr. Fowling was as boring as ever. Riku, Kairi and Sora had to work extra hard to catch up on the work they missed and Selphie, Tidus and Wakka took great pleasure in teasing them. Marlene was welcomed back by her relieved father and as it turns out, he wasn't the only one missing her. While Marlene had been pining over Sora, a boy called Denzel had had a crush on her and when she returned he finally got the courage to tell her how he felt.

In the world of Fantasia the Hippo Queen continued to have her balls, ever waiting for the Alligator Prince to crash them. Phil, Hercules and Megara returned from their summer vacation to find the coliseum once again destroyed, leaving Phil with a near nervous breakdown and Hercules with handyman duty. A group of four bounty hunters in their black Gummi Ship continued to travel around to seek fortune and adventure. In the World of Ever After the seven dwarves attended the wedding of Snow White to her Prince Charming.

In the Magic Kingdom, Donald was once again forced to work off his debt to his Uncle Scrooge while a heroic masked duck, his daughter and his sidekick watched over the fair city of Toon Town. Above them, a daredevil cargo pilot did a happy barrel roll as he headed for Louie's, a quick stop before making his delivery to Cape Suzette, where a promoted former movie star started the city's increased crackdown on crime.

A certain Emperor of Kuzcotopia spent his summer in a little shack on a hill with a family of peasants who started treating him as their son. While a certain beefy minion was trying to find a way to turn his best friend back into the woman who was scary beyond all reason. In Atlantis a bespectacled linguist carved a stone likeness of his beloved wife's father, who had recently died leaving her the queen. In another world not too far way a group of explorers was explaining to their benefactor that despite finding large amounts of gold and treasure a world of people kept alive with a giant crystal simply did not exist. And in the now freed world of Prydain, a princess and a boy who wanted to become a knight went off adventuring with a less-than-honest minstrel and a fuzzy little hero. And in all these worlds a beautiful flower with red and blue petals mysteriously began growing.

"Oh jeez Vincent! I think I liked you better as a Heartless!" Yuffie pouted as she spread out the blanket next to the red caped gunner.

"Yuffie!" Leon said threatening as he brought the massive picnic basket and dropped it unceremoniously on the cloth the ninja had laid out.

"What? At least when he was a Heartless he wasn't so mopey all the time," She stuck out her tongue at the gunblade wielder. Leon scowled at the girl and rubbed his sore biceps from lugging the huge amount of food, "He's been like that ever since he came back. Even though he's moved into town all he does is spend his time sitting out in this meadow and watching these dumb old flowers,"

"I don't think flowers are dumb," Aeris said cheerfully. She and Cloud began setting out all the plates and dishes when Tifa ran over and dragged Cloud back up to his feet.

"C'mon Cloud, it's a beautiful day, I feel like running around and sparring a bit," Tifa chirped happily. Cloud gave a begging look to Aeris but all she did was smile and wave as the black haired woman pulled the swordsman away.

"So you ever going to tell us what happened in that final battle? After all, we told you what happened back in the Magic Kingdom," Leon finally asked Vincent.

"Have I ever told you any of the things I've done?" the red-eyed man replied as grabbed for a drink. Leon let out a sigh in defeat.

"Well, if you guys want to hear a story I can tell you about the time I beat a whole group of Heartless with nothing but a can of soda and a back of those crackling rock candies!" Cid offered happily.

Yuffie began to whine, "Nooo! Anything but that!"

Vincent sighed and turned his back to the commotion behind him. He looked ahead to the horizon and thought about his life. He no longer looked at himself with contempt and his memories now included some happy thoughts of the group of young people he had fought with only a few weeks earlier. He closed his eyes and felt the sun on his face while he absently petted the little pegasus with the hand that was once a metal claw.

"Excuse me," Vincent froze. Behind him he had heard a deep female voice, "Are you the owner of the flower shop?" Vincent turned around to see a woman talking to Aeris. She had a fair complexion with long light brown hair. She wore a white ball gown that brushed the ground, with feathers coming off the trim around her shoulders. In her hands was a toy rabbit, "I was told that the owner of the flower shop was in the meadow for a picnic. I don't mean to disturb you, but I was hoping I could get some plants to fulfill a spell I'm working on,"

"Of course, it will only take a few minutes to get back to town and open up the shop for a little bit," Aeris replied graciously. The woman's voice was very familiar, and her look and powers seemed like an echo to a person Vincent once knew. Without thinking he got up and walked over to the woman talking with the florist.

The woman's eyes were not purple with yellow where the whites would be, but a severe, disinterested look she used as scanned Vincent seemed oddly familiar to the man. She seemed to lose whatever little interest she had in the man and immediately looked to the ground, "My necklace!"

Vincent looked down and saw the heart shaped pendant Lulu had given to him had fallen from his cape. The woman reached down and picked it up. Vincent asked, "That's your necklace?"

"Yes, I lost it many years ago in a battle against Heartless. I lost my heart and my pendant in that battle. I eventually got my heart back, but I never found the necklace," the woman explained, a bit of warmth now coming into her voice as she rubbed the stone gently, "Wherever did you find it?"

"From a Nobody I met once," Vincent's voice struggled not to let on any tones of what he was thinking.

"A Nobody, you say? How interesting," The woman's chilly demeanor cracked further, "My name is Lucrecia,"

"Vincent Valentine," the man replied gruffly. Aeris noticed the way the red-eyed man acted around the woman and as well as the way Lucrecia was behaving around the man. Despite the gunner's awkwardness, the two acted almost as they already knew each other. Aeris looked to Vincent and smiling mischievously, gave an encouraging gesture. The man glared at the younger woman and let out a defeated sigh. "If you want I can tell you the whole story. I don't think they will mind if you join us."

"Yes, I would like that very much." As Lucrecia and Vincent sat down together a few feet away from the picnic to get some privacy, the caped man began the story of how he found a teenage girl out in the Radiant Garden and how they traveled to a world of music where he met a woman in a black dress. As the two began to talk the wind gently blew through the flowers in the meadow known as Matilda's Heart.

The End


End file.
